Mazda News: Mazda MX-30 with Rotary Range Extender to be Unveiled this Week

[Drew Dowdell]

No, Regenesis is not the official name, but if it turns out it is, I’m sending an invoice to Mazda.

Mazda’s stylish EV with an underwhelming range, the Mazda MX-30, has been rumored on again off again to get a rotary powered range extender since at least the Summer of 2021.  The MX-30 went on sale in Europe and Japan at that time and reached California shortly after.  Sales of the Mazda MX-30 in the US totaled 324 last year before they were "sold out".

Sales of the MX-30 have been disappointing due to several factors.  The range is an issue with only 100 miles of it, lower than the lowest range Nissan Leaf. Power output is low at 141 horsepower and 195 lb.-ft of torque, while the Chevy Bolt EV has 200 horsepower and 266 torques. Then there is the odd two-door with a rear suicide door arrangement. Finally, the interior room is quite small.

Mazda will be addressing the range issue with the release of the updated MX-30 R-EV, due to be shown at the Brussels Motor Show this Friday, January 13^th.  Initially, only for the European market, it will expand to North America shortly after and hopefully break the confines of The Golden State.

The rotary engine will not drive the EV’s wheels directly but instead keep the batteries charged, similar to what we expect from the recently announced RAM 1500 REV.  Rotaries are expected to be well suited to be range extenders as they are very compact, run better than piston engines at high RPM, and produce less vibration at those high RPMs.

Rumors suggest that the R-EV version would have double the range of the pure EV. Still, 200 miles is still below larger EVs like the Bolt and Leaf.

We will have more updates for you on Friday when Mazda takes the wraps off the MX-30 in Belgium.

 

 

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[smk4565]

Or put a real battery in it for 250 mile range.  Awful car.

[ccap41]

Yeah, what a joke of a vehicle. We all know it was just a compliance vehicle so they could continue selling ICE vehicles in California but the execution was so bad. 

[Drew Dowdell]

12 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

Or put a real battery in it for 250 mile range.  Awful car.

The sad thing is that it’s not an awful car. It apparently has good handling and a nice enough interior. It’s just the range is a huge letdown.

[smk4565]

1 hour ago, Drew Dowdell said:

The sad thing is that it’s not an awful car. It apparently has good handling and a nice enough interior. It’s just the range is a huge letdown.

I have heard reviews that it doesn't drive that well, that is is rather under powered.  But the range is useless, the Bolt and Leaf or Kona/Niro EV are better options at equal or less money.

[surreal1272]

A huge swing and a miss there Mazda. Like it's been already, just go full EV and add some proper range to it. No need to overcomplicate it with, not just any gasoline powered engine, but with a notoriously difficult to work on rotary engine. 

[David]

I think this is a FAILURE out the door. Mazda FAILED with their Diesel that had to be recalled due to sludge issues and more. Rotary engines have had a terrible oil eating issue and they have never been that reliable even when they had the Rotary sports car. 

This Rotary range extender with a terrible range is just a failure from the start that Mazda should have never even bothered to waist money on. A company that is slowly dying and this would just continue to reenforce for me that they are clueless to the future of automobiles.

FAILURE BIG TIME from Mazda.

[Drew Dowdell]

15 hours ago, smk4565 said:

I have heard reviews that it doesn't drive that well, that is is rather under powered.  But the range is useless, the Bolt and Leaf or Kona/Niro EV are better options at equal or less money.

I think that is a case of mismatched expectations.  It's not a Miata. No it's not RWD.  Yes a Bolt is faster in 0-60, but the MX-30 still steers and rides better.  From an enthusiastic driver's perspective, the Leaf isn't even in the same league.

But, it's not a BMW i4 which costs almost 75% more, nor should anyone expect it to be. The Ioniq and Kia EV6 are $15k more comparatively equipped.

So there isn't really an apples to apples vehicle to compare to for now.

[Drew Dowdell]

I joined the Mazda Europe press site yesterday and got access today.  I uploaded another 85 pictures of the current MX-30 to the same gallery.

[ccap41]

Kind of to add to what @David said, I really don't know what Mazda's future looks like. They seem to be stuck in an area of wanting to be a luxury automaker, but their perception is still economy/mainstream. The CX-5 still sells well but, I think that's it. They're living on the CX-5. 

The diesel CX-5 was a major disappointment. I was really excited for that when it was accounced because I was still looking at vehicles in that size range. It was a MASSIVE flop. The ratings on it were 27 city/30highway while the 2.5 n/a gasoline 4 cylinder were 24/30(both AWD). I'm sure it exceeded the highway ratings by a fair margin, as all diesels seem to do, but if one isn't doing their research, they'll pass on that upcharge 100% of the time.  ALSO, it was a $4000 upcharge and only available on the top trim. The execution was just terrible. 

[Drew Dowdell]

29 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

Kind of to add to what @David said, I really don't know what Mazda's future looks like. They seem to be stuck in an area of wanting to be a luxury automaker, but their perception is still economy/mainstream. The CX-5 still sells well but, I think that's it. They're living on the CX-5. 

The diesel CX-5 was a major disappointment. I was really excited for that when it was accounced because I was still looking at vehicles in that size range. It was a MASSIVE flop. The ratings on it were 27 city/30highway while the 2.5 n/a gasoline 4 cylinder were 24/30(both AWD). I'm sure it exceeded the highway ratings by a fair margin, as all diesels seem to do, but if one isn't doing their research, they'll pass on that upcharge 100% of the time.  ALSO, it was a $4000 upcharge and only available on the top trim. The execution was just terrible. 

Mazda is definitely in transition at the moment.  You'll see that with the 50 / 60 / 90 crossovers they are coming out with that are leaning more to the luxury end of things.  I did find the CX-50 to be nice and luxurious for the class, but so were the upper trims of the CX-5 and there is only about a $800 difference in base MSRP.... so why wasn't it just the refreshed CX-5?  The CX-9 is old at this point, but still a nice, if small, 3-row... and now they have the CX-90 debuting soon. Are they going to have both? 

The diesels issue was one of technology trying to keep up with regs.  VW screwed everyone on diesels with what they did.  By falsifying their own emissions and getting caught they put everyone's diesels under extra scrutiny.  Mazda tried for a while do to what VW did to make a diesel that didn't use DEF and they couldn't do it.  So Mazda burned a lot of R&D trying to keep up with VW's falsehoods.

The diesel itself was very pleasant to drive and from the inside you couldn't tell it was a diesel unless you were listening for it.  One quibble with your comparison though is that since the diesel was only available on the top trim, the comparison engine was the 2.5T which, while reasonably powerful only got 22/27 and needed premium gas to achieve that. It's also only a 6-speed auto which means you're into the boost a bit more than if you were driving a 9-speed like the Terrain or 8-speed like the Tiguan.   If you were a semi-lux buyer that does a lot of highway travel, the diesel would end up making more financial sense.