The long-awaited premiere of the Mazda MX-30 e-Skyactiv R-EV crossover took place at the Brussels Motor Show. In all this variety of abbreviations, the main letter is “R”, because it means “rotary”.
The last rotary road car remains the RX-8 quad coupe, which ceased production in 2012. But in the new version of the MX-30, the ICE with the 8C index is not connected to the wheels, but acts as a generator to recharge the traction battery.
The working volume of the cylinder is small – only 830 “cubes”. The engine with a compression ratio of 11.9: 1 develops 75 hp. With. and due to exhaust gas recirculation systems, a catalyst and a particulate filter, it complies with modern Euro-6 standards. By the way, it was the introduction of the Euro-5 standard that at one time forced the Japanese to abandon the sale of the RX-8 in Europe.
The traction battery has been reduced by half – from 35.5 to 17.8 kWh. Without the use of an internal combustion engine, the MX-30 R-EV can travel 85 km instead of 200 km for an electric vehicle. Instead of the second half of the battery, a 50-liter gas tank is installed under the floor – according to Mazda representatives, the range in hybrid mode “exceeds 600 km.” As before, the car can be charged from two- and three-phase terminals, as well as at fast charging stations with a capacity of up to 36 kW.
And the plug-in hybrid turned out to be more dynamic than an electric car. The power of the front-mounted electric drive motor has been increased from 107 kW (145 hp) to 125 kW (170 hp), although torque has been slightly reduced (from 271 to 260 Nm). The rotary hybrid gains the first “hundred” in 9.1 seconds (for an electric car it is 0.6 seconds more), but the “maximum speed” limiter is still strict: 140 km / h.
The starting price for a plug-in rotary hybrid and an electric car is the same – 35,990 euros. At the top of the range will be the Edition R version (45,040 euros), which will feature not only rich equipment, but also a burgundy roof. The R360 coupe, the first passenger Mazda in history, was painted in this one.
Sales of the MX-30 e-Skyactiv R-EV in Europe will begin this summer. Mazda has high hopes for the rotor. The fact is that the Wankel engine can run on hydrogen or natural gas. If piston engines are vulnerable to damage from a chemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen, then rotary engines do not have such a problem, the company’s engineers are convinced.
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