Mazda is now giving its MX-30 electric car a boost: so far it has hardly been able to impress with a range of just 200 kilometers. Now a 75 hp Wankel engine is added to the electric motor, which operates a generator, which in turn keeps the 17.8 kWh on-board battery happy. Whenever the filling level falls below 45 percent, the combustion engine starts and recharges. This means that Mazda is returning to series production of a rotary piston engine after a ten-year break.
The electric motor, which solely takes care of the driven front wheels, has an output of 170 hp and a peak torque of 260 Newton meters. When driving purely electrically, one battery charge is enough for 85 kilometers, but with its range extender and 50 liters of gasoline in the tank, the MX-30 R-EV can travel a good 600 kilometers.
As the first test drives showed, the interaction between the engines is pleasantly quiet and has little vibration. The circling piston is still audible; it announces itself for work with a sonorous purr. The R-EV, which weighs 1,780 kilograms, drives like a true electric car, with great elasticity and appropriate sprinting ability. It takes 9.1 seconds to go from 0 to 100 km/h; the top speed is limited to 140 km/h for energy efficiency reasons. Mazda states fuel consumption according to the WLTP standard as one liter per 100 kilometers, but this only applies if the battery is charged via cable before each journey. On an 11 kW wallbox this takes an hour and a half; on a DC charger with at least 36 kW it should be 80 percent full again after 25 minutes. The WLTP power consumption is 17.5 kWh per 100 kilometers.
The higher-quality features of the MX-30 offer a 230-volt socket with 1500 watts of power, enough for sawing wood with a chainsaw in the forest. However, someone else has to pull a trailer for the logs; a trailer hitch is not available. But the Wankel engine meets the currently strictest EU emissions standards thanks to exhaust gas recirculation, catalytic converter and gasoline particle filter. The basic model of the new Mazda will be available from dealers from December for 35,990 euros.
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