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A Rotary Sportscar Revival? Mazda Applies For 'Electrified' Trademarks And Patents Fueling Intense Debate
I focus on all things to do with cars.
Mazda lodged patent applications for the aluminum frame of a new wide-bodied coupe that resembles ... [+] the RX-Vision rotary concept car (seen here) first shown at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2015.
After a 10 year hiatus since the rotary engine-powered Mazda RX-8 went out of production, the Hiroshima-based carmaker is finally reviving its legendary rotary engine. But not in the way we all expected, or hoped. Come early 2022, albeit in hybrid form in the upcoming 2022 model year MX-30 range-extender version (in which the rotary engine acts as a generator only), Mazda will add this new rotary-range-extender model to their current MX-30 gasoline-hybrid and fully electric lineup that will land in U.S. showrooms later this year.
This combination of electrification, hybridization and rotary reintegration appears to be just the tip of the iceberg to what Mazda is really planning. They say, "where there's smoke, there's fire." Well, the smoke we are seeing from Mazda is certainly getting thicker as the months tick by towards 2022 and beyond.
The new powertrain applications will be expressed by a logo, pictured here, with the letter 'e' ... [+] located inside the shape of a rotary engine.
The smoke I speak of are trademark applications Mazda has made recently, trademarks that hint at some significant developments in the brand's lineup. According to Japan's biggest selling car magazine Best Car and the popular Hatena Blog, Mazda in August filed for four trademark applications for four electrified power systems. The powertrain applications will be expressed by a logo, pictured above, with the letter 'e' located inside the shape of a rotary engine. Drivetrain variants include 'e-SKYACTIV R-HEV,' 'e-SKYACTIV R-EV,' 'e-SKYACTIV R-Energy and 'e-SKYACTIV R.'
The 'e-SKYACTIV R~something' prefix obviously refers to some form of Mazda's electrified Skyactiv rotary engine with the 'R-HEV' hinting at a hybrid or even a hydrogen based powertrain while the 'R-EV' appears to point towards a battery-electric variant. Meanwhile the 'R' suffix could refer to a next generation RX-7 like sports car featuring a turbocharged rotary hybrid system. The rotary engine, which functions as a mere generator (and not driving the wheels) in the upcoming MX-30, proves that Mazda plans to utilize its most famous brandname to help power fuel-efficient hybrids into the future. However, at the same time, the 'smoke' emanating from the company in the form of these trademarks strongly hints at a rethink of Mazda's signature rotary sports car as well.
In addition to these titles, Best Car and others discovered in early August that Mazda had also lodged patent applications for the aluminum frame of a new wide-bodied coupe that resembles the RX-Vision rotary concept car first shown at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2015. From the diagrams spied, this model appears to boast a 48V system and a rear transaxle rear-drive layout with electric in-wheel motors at the front. Over the years, we've also heard strong rumors that the company was developing a rotary engine sports car powered by hydrogen, but we could not confirm that fact from the drawings.
One other important development that supports the Mazda rotary sports car rebirth theory is the fact that Japan, with its Toyota Supra, GR86 and GR-Yaris, Subaru BRZ and WRX, Lexus LC500, Honda Civic Type R and NSX, Mazda MX-5 and Nissan GT-R sports models, just happens to be the biggest producer of sports cars on the planet today. And it just might be this coupe proliferation that helps push Mazda over the rather high threshold—given that sportscar sales are not high and economic of scale are hard to justify—to launch a next generation rotary sports car. Only time will tell.
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Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterlyon/2021/08/26/a-rotary-sportscar-revival-mazda-applies-for-electrified-trademarks-and-patents-fueling-intense-debate/
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