Opinion: Mazda’s rotary range extender is a silly idea

Sorry, Joel. I know you’re excited about Mazda bringing back the rotary engine as a range extender for the MX-30. I would be too if it were 8-10 years ago. But now (and probably even back then), the Mazda rotary range extender is a silly idea.

We’re waiting for Mazda to reveal its rotary-range-extended MX-30 this week in Brussels, and it’s been a long time coming. As Mazda said back in 2021, “This technology is being engineered for nearly silent operation and will replenish the battery rather than drive the wheels. As a result, the MX-30 will always drive like the engaging EV that it is, but with freedom to charge from the wall or on the go.” Despite the adulatory PR speak, that doesn’t sound all that great for a few reasons, and not just because of the dubious market prospects of range extenders these days.

Range extenders might still serve a purpose for a little while. More range-extended EVs would probably have better served the public than the numerous plug-in hybrids with minimal electric range that we got instead, especially prior to the longer-range BEVs available now. REx systems are a last resort for ameliorating range anxiety, largely for owners who don’t live where public charging infrastructure is built out. And if charging providers keep failing as hard as they do, extenders might still find meaning in a vast, drivable country like the U.S., but that window of opportunity is closing, if it hasn't already, as battery costs and charging infrastructure improves.