No rotary for hybrid Mazda3

Sorry, fans of the Wankel rotary engine; there will be a piston engine onboard the Mazda3 Hybrid when it goes on sale in Japan within 12 months.

However, while the Japanese-market petrol-electric Mazda3 will be powered by a conventional SKYACTIV-G petrol engine, Mazda has revealed it is also working on an all-new range-extender plug-in hybrid model – potentially with rotary power.

During the global launch of the new Mazda3 last week, motoring.com.au asked Mazda for further information concerning the rumoured rotary engine application for the Mazda3 Hybrid currently under development for Japan.

Steve Maciver, Mazda Australia's National Public Relations Manager, spoke in vague terms about the future of the rotary engine, but confirmed unequivocally with a one-word answer ("absolutely") that the Mazda3 Hybrid will actually be driven and recharged by a piston engine, rather than a rotary.

The confirmation makes more interesting statements made previously by former Mazda Motor Corporation CEO Takashi Yamanouchi, who told motoring.com.au at last year’s Sydney motor show that “Next year we will market an electric vehicle with a rotary engine as a range-extender”.

At the time, we took that to mean that Mazda’s first hybrid vehicle, which it had already been established would be based on the new Mazda3, would incorporate a range-extending plug-in hybrid rotary drive system.

But if the Mazda3 hybrid arrives with a conventional petrol engine, then it appears Mazda is continuing to develop a separate range-extending plug-in electric model with a rotary engine/generator.

Mazda has repeatedly restated its commitment to the rotary engine technology it made famous and has even shown prototypes of a larger new rotary engine it continues to develop.

Indeed, Yamanouchi-san and Mazda Australia MD Martin Benders have both explained that the rotary engine offers a lot of benefits as a range-extender if it runs at or near fixed speeds.

Mazda has been experimenting with the engine in plug-in hybrid prototypes for some years now (and in hydrogen combustion applications too), but both Benders and Maciver agreed that Mazda's first production hybrid – based on the Mazda3 and available only for lease in Japan from this year -- will be powered by conventional (piston-equipped) internal combustion.

That engine is expected to be the new 1.5-litre SKYACTIV-G petrol engine, which we won't see in Australia prior to the introduction of the all-new Mazda2, coupled with Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive system licensed by Mazda.

Both men were clear that the HSD system licensed from Toyota is not a plug-in set-up – and that logically rules out the rotary as a range-extender in the Mazda3 Hybrid... for the moment at least.

Maciver practically confirmed that there is a range-extended plug-in hybrid in Mazda's future: "It's still something that they're working on."

But he also said that the plug-in technology will be developed in-house by Mazda, rather than sourced from Toyota.

With Mazda moving to a 1.6-litre rotary in future, which was telegraphed as long ago as 2007 at the Tokyo motor show, the range-extender project is likely to be based on the same displacement and technology as the 'SKYACTIV' rotary for the next rotary-engined sports car.

Benders told motoring.com.au that it's the nature of the Japanese market that hybrid models sell in shiploads. Without a hybrid model to offer, Mazda was fighting with one arm tied behind its back, making a hybrid Mazda3 practically imperative.

Mazda has recently left behind it a difficult financial period, which limited the company to focusing on important, money-spinning projects, such as the new Mazda3. But in the last financial year the company earned a profit of $A350 million, with profits expected to double in the current financial year.

That means the company will have some spare cash to spend on R&D, but with Mazda2 already committed and on the way and Mazda known to be working on a new MX-5 to share its platform with a new Alfa Romeo Spider, development projects such as a new RX-7/8 or a range-extender plug-in hybrid are still some way off.

After all, the shareholders have to be paid too.

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