Good news: In an October 2 press release, Mazda Motor Corporation announced that the rotary engine is not dead but will instead be used in a new vehicle — and, potentially, a range of vehicles — currently under development. Bad news: The engine won’t be used to power the drive wheels in a conventional manner, but instead will be used as a range-extender in a battery-electric vehicle.
Part of a long-term vision that Mazda is calling “Sustainable Zoom-Zoom 2030,” the yet-to-be-classified battery-electric hybrid vehicle will debut alongside a battery-only electric variant, giving consumers options based upon budget and range requirements. To reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 90 percent compared to 2010 levels, the Japanese automaker has pledged to include “some form of electrification” in all of its production vehicles by 2030. In this same time frame, Mazda also expects that 95 percent of its sales will come from “combustion engines combined with some form of electrification,” while the remaining five percent of sales will come from battery-electric vehicles.
Mazda's long-rumored return of the rotary has become official. More on Hemmings.
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