Mazda’s Vision X-Coupe Concept is much more than just the latest example of the automaker’s Kodo design language. It shows how the brand’s iconic Wankel engine may soon return as a key part of Mazda’s product line-up. It also demonstrates a new technology that, the automaker’s CEO claimed during a Japan Mobility Show news conference, could leave the air cleaner, “the more you drive.”
Mazda’s Vision X-Coupe displays the latest take on the automaker’s Kodo design language.
Under the sleek skin of the new Mazda Vision X-Coupe Concept is a new drivetrain that shows how the once-iconic Wankel could once again become a significant part of the Mazda line-up.
It uses a newly developed version of that rotary engine to deliver lightning-fast acceleration, even while permitting the show car to muster up to 100 miles of range in all-electric mode.
But the real breakthrough, or so the automaker claims, is the ability to operate, even while using gas power, without putting out any harmful exhaust emissions. Instead, the new “Mazda Mobile Carbon Capture” system is capable of capturing CO2 gases before they make it out of the tailpipe. Those gases can then be offloaded and sequestered – or even used to create artificial fuels to replace gasoline.
Rotary Revival
A cutaway of a rotary engine. Mazda uses a 2-rotor Wankel for the X-Coupe’s extended-range EV drive system.
The once-promising rotary engine was a mainstay of the Mazda line-up 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 is currently used in the MX-30 e-Skyactiv R-EV, an extended-range electric vehicle sold in Europe and a few other markets. More familiar plug-in hybrids can power their wheels either by a gas engine, electric motors, or both. “E-REVs,” however, can only draw power from their electric motors. In the Vision X-Coupe, like the MX-30 R-EV, the Wankel engine serves only to generate current once the battery pack is drained.
In practical terms, that has a number of advantages. By operating within a relatively steady RPM range, Mazda can maximize the Wankel’s fuel efficiency while minimizing its emissions. The turbocharged package is rated at 500 horsepower yet can muster up to 100 miles in solely electric mode. When the battery is drained the gas-powered side of the drivetrain still can keep it going for a total 500 miles.
A Car That Can Clean the Air as it Drives?
The Mazda Mobility Carbon Capture system.
Even when the X-Coupe’s Wankel engine fires up the capture system is 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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Kodo Design
The Mazda Vision X-Coupe concept is about 10 inches longer than the Mazda6 sedan.
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.
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