Late last year Mitsuo Hitomi, Mazda’s global powertrain head confirmed that Mazda is bringing back the rotary engine next year and now another Mazda exec has revealed a few more details. Mazda will officially bring back the rotary engine next year, but this time it won’t be used to power an RX model and instead will be used as a range extender for its new EV.
Martijn ten Brink, Vice President of Sales and Customer Service of Mazda’s European division revealed the details to ZerAuto.nl. Mazda will reveal its new electric car in 2019 and it will also be offered with an optional range extender. The rotary engine will not be turbocharged and is a single disc engine. According to Brink it functions purely as a generator, it’s placed flat and is as big as a shoebox. The engine will also be vibration free, so the driver won’t even notice when it turns on.
Mazda hasn’t revealed too many details about its new electric car, but Brink did reveal that it will be about the same size as the Mazda 3. Speaking of the Mazda 3, the next-generation will also arrive in 2019.
Source: ZerAuto.nl
