Mazda has revealed a 503bhp sports saloon with a rotary-electric powertrain that promises up to 500 miles of combined range - and is set to feature in a production car in the next three years.
The Vision X-Coupé – star of the brand's stage at the Tokyo motor show - is a sleek, rakish four-door that's clearly evolved from the striking Iconic SP sports car concept that Mazda revealed at the Tokyo show two years ago.
It is also, visually and conceptually, evolved from the 2015 RX-Vision concept, which set the tone for the Kodo design language the firm still deploys today and previewed plans for a new rotary-engined powertrain.
The concept uses a turbocharged two-rotor engine as part of a plug-in hybrid system, which is said to be capable of travelling 100 miles with the engine off.
However, unlike in the MX-30 R-EV crossover, which uses a rotary as a generator to top up the battery, this concept’s rotors actually drive the wheels (as they did in the old RX-3, RX-7 and RX-8 coupés).
Launching a production version of this powertrain would be a significant step for Mazda, which is investing heavily in new ways of decarbonising its cars while it gradually builds up to going all-electric.
The firm’s chief technical officer, Ryuichi Umeshita, told Autocar that it could be a landmark "carbon-negative" alternative fuel solution.
“Of course, the battery-EV is a very good solution for going carbon-neutral,” he said. “But what we've presented today is that with internal-combustion engines, we can go even further than that to carbon-negative.”
Mazda has been vocal about the potential for synthetic fuels to reduce the environmental impact of combustion engines and has invested in their development while EV uptake has faltered in many of its key markets.
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