It seemed like a typo in the press release handed out to journalists ahead of the Mazda news conference at this week’s Japan Mobility Show. But then the claim was repeated when the Hiroshima-based automaker’s global President and CEO Masahiro Moro got up on stage.
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Among several intriguing new vehicles Mazda spotlighted at the biennial event was the new Vision X-Coupe Concept, an eye-catching, Mazda6-sized prototype that pushes the brand’s Kodo design language to new extremes.
It also shows what Mazda is hoping to do with an all-new version of its iconic Wankel engine, a new, twin-rotor design used at part of the coupe concept’s extended-range drivetrain. The package not only musters up to 500 horsepower but delivers around 100 miles of all-electric driving. But that’s only the start of what Mazda claims its Vision X-Coupe Concept can achieve.
A Car That Can Clean the Air as it Drives?
Under the sleek concept car’s skin, is a new device dubbed the “Mazda Mobile Carbon Capture.” The name effectively sums things up. Whenever the X-Coupe’s Wankel engine fires up it’s designed to suck C02 out of the exhaust and store it in an onboard holding tank. At some point, a motorist would then have the captured global warming gas transferred out of the vehicle where it then could be sequestered or used for some other purpose.
The Wankel engine, Mazda explained, is capable of running on a variety of artificial fuels, such as one it’s experimenting with that’s made from “microalgae.” These could be created from captured CO2, it turns out. So, explained CEO Moro, Mazda “envisions a future where the more kilometers you drive, the more you help reduce CO2.”
That technology is more than just the typical flight of auto show fancy, Mazda insisted. It is getting ready to put the Mobile Carbon Capture system through a real-world test in a particularly challenging environment, fitted onto a Mazda Spirit Racing car competing in the upcoming the Super Taikyu endurance racing series.
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Rotary Revival
Even if that technology never makes it beyond the research stage, the Vision X-Coupe Concept appears meant to influence Mazda’s future production plans, among other things, revealing how the once-popular Wankel engine could find a new place in its line-up. The rotary engine was used in a variety of Mazda products from the late 1960s through 2012 when the RX-8 sports car ended production. Ever since, the company’s engineers have struggled to overcome two distinct technical challenges: the Wankel’s mediocre fuel efficiency and emissions levels.
A pint-sized version of the rotary returned a couple years ago with the launch of the MX-30 e-Skyactiv R-EV sold in Europe and a few other markets. Here, rather than powering the wheels, it serves solely as a generator, providing current when the little crossover’s small battery pack is drained.
The Vision X-Coupe is also what’s technically known as an extended-range electric vehicle, or E-REV. But it uses a larger, turbocharged twin-rotor Wankel capable of boosting performance substantially. The show car is rated at 500 horsepower and can muster up to 100 miles in solely electric mode. When the battery is drained the gas-powered side of the drivetrain fires up and it can keep going as long as there’s fuel in the tank – and estimated 500 miles. Significantly, since the rotary engine isn’t directly connected to Vision’s wheels it operates within a relatively steady RPM range, a “sweet spot” maximizing both its efficiency and minimizing its emissions.
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Kodo Design
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Along with its history of using rotary engines, Mazda has built a solid reputation for design, and the Vision X-Coupe is the latest example. Picking up on the brand’s “Kodo Soul of Motion” design language, it’s a sleek coupe-sedan with a long nose that gracefully arcs into the low-slung roofline.
The show car measures about 198.8 inches in length, about 10 inches longer than the Mazda6 sedan. The concept is 78.5 inches wide and stands at 53.2 inches in peak height. The wheelbase stretches 121.7 inches, again about 10 inches longer than that of the Mazda6.
Whether we’ll see the Vision X-Coupe concept move beyond the show car stage is uncertain. It could serve as a future flagship – though, like the rest of the industry, Mazda’s current product line-up reflects the reality of today’s SUV-centric world.
Jacob Oliva/Autoblog
