I came across an article about the new MX-30. It seems the Wankel is uniquely suited for Generator purposes... Article here for the curious.
Mazda Rotary Range Extender
- Thread starter HattoriHanzoAxleshaft
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The MX-30 needs a range extender because it has the range of a plug-in hybrid, but without the hybrid. As cool as a range extender is, with a 225-325mi range, there are increasingly fewer roads you can travel without getting a top up. And realistically, only red-bull pounding marathon drivers will go more than 250mi without stopping for 10-15 minutes. Even off roading you'll be hard pressed to run out of juice (but the 0.1% will prove me wrong). A range extender would be nice in some use cases, but the cost, space, and complexity it adds to the drivetrain just isn't worth it. I went from PHEV to full EV with serious hesitance, but after doing 850mi in a day I'm convinced that battery only is perfectly fine.
While I get what you're saying, we have a saying in the trailer towing community whenever someone asks about "is this too heavy?"
It's never about the sunny, dry day. It's about when you're on a mountain pass, going down hill, with a load and a motorcycle lays down in front of you. Can you stop then?
I say this because there need to be redundancies. There need to be backups. And unfortunately, the range we're seeing in 4LO is quite atrocious.
Pushed within an inch of their limits with constantly changing demands, sure... A duty-specific redesign can eliminate many of the shortcomings of Mazda's rotary. The idea's been kicked around for half a decade or more now.
But why use a Mazda wankel, when they can grab from the VW parts bin and get something like the small 1.2 or even the slightly larger 1.8 which is known for reliability and still the same weight as the Mazda wankel without having to pay Mazda royalties
If you read the article I provided, you'd see that there are redesigned, American made rotary motors available that would fit this purpose like a glove... It's another area Scout Motors could leverage American manufacturing into their designs while improving their range via an uncommon, quirky manner. I think it's at least worth looking into.
"engineers yanked the 39-pound conventional engine out of a kart and installed the four-pound X Mini."
"Rotary engines are particularly efficient at low, steady engine speeds, which is why they make sense as generators. In an EV, the small and light units would play that same role"
From the article, in case you didn't want to read it.
And my thought would be a plug and play add-on. It wouldn't have to be in there ALL the time, but if you're going on a long trip, put that puppy in and away we go.
A unit that fits on a swing-away on the rear bumper, modeled like a spare tire that's fueled by a bumper mounted jerrycan, but there's an inherent rear collision hazard there so would have to be trail use/limited speed only... a protected unit that mounts in combo between the hitch & bumper might work for road use, but would interfere with tailgate/hatch access. Safe fuel storage outside the vehicle is tricky.
I wouldn't want anything permanently mounted on-board for sure.
I wouldn't want anything permanently mounted on-board for sure.
At first all I could picture are those memes posted on social media with a generator charging an EV on the side of the road....and all the negativity that came with those post. But after reading the linked article it does seem like an option worth looking into. The issue Ive read about with hybrids is the added weight actually hurts, rather than helps, that vehicles carbon footprint. This thing looks to be very light weight. The other selling point that jumped out at me at the end of the article was the statement that the use of this motor to charge the batteries creates less emissions than an EV plugged in on the grid. That could be a selling point.
