Mazda MX30 R-EV
 

It's got doors just like my 1950 Studebaker.
Mazda MX30 R-EV - The Perfect Plug-In Hybrid with a tiny Rotary engine - The Gateway Drug to BEV !

I thought wankels had issues passing emissions in Cali.......

Don't know/care, but maybe it's a 49-state vehicle.

Interesting approach. Very similiar to the first gen BMW i3 with the range extender.

I understand that any design is a compromise to cater to multiple needs but just wish it would be smaller and more streamlined. I don't like the crossover design.

Still a step in the right direction though.

I wonder what the thermal efficiency is of the wankel? I haven't seen the video yet, so maybe they answer that. Will watch it after posting this comment.

EPA range of 400 miles, with 53 miles on electricity. 13.2 gallon tank gets you the extra 347 miles, works out to 26.2mpg on the rotary. One reviewer reported getting 15.7mpg on his test drive using the range extender. So, it's not efficient.

I figure it works, however. It's small, light, inexpensive, and for many drivers, they'll rarely ever burn gasoline. The EV range could approach 99% of miles covered, and it has a battery 1/5 that of a Tesla without sacrificing the ability to take longer trips.

Wankels have issues passing emissions pretty much anywhere in the modern world. This particular example is helped by using the ICE as a generator so it can run at a set RPM. That makes passing emissions a lot easier.

Also - for light duty vehicles CARB and EPA rules are almost the same for local emissions today.

That term is about 30 years out of date. In 1993 New York started using CARB emission standards and more and more states have joined since then. Today 40% of light duty vehicles sold in the USA are covered by CARB standards.

4 more states are in the process. Minnesota, Nevada, and Virginia join in 2025 and New Mexico in 2026. That will add another 5% of new vehicle sales to the CARB column.

Sounds about right for me. :) I've left the 70s (Superbeetle, Dasher) for the 90s (XFi).

With a constant-speed RPM, pretty much like a stationary engine, it also allows to optimize the porting for such a narrow RPM band, which used to be a major compromise for Wankel engines.