Beggars can’t be choosers but the vagrants camped outside Hiroshima waiting for Mazda to throw us a rotary-shaped bone have finally gotten a bite of something as news emerged about the debatable Mazda MX-30 receiving a rotary engine as a range extended electric vehicle (REEV).

Told you not to be choosy.

It appears likely that Mazda will unveil a variant of the crossover at the Brussels Motor Show this week with the engine, touting it as “reborn for the electric age.”

Never thought you’d hear the day a rotary was the answer to range anxiety.

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The announcement didn’t reveal much apart from the new logo pictured here that is clearly an amalgamation of the shape of a rotary engine’s rotor with the lower-case letter “e.”

Mazda is adamant about keeping that part of its heritage alive, probably due to it being the only heritage it can lay claim to. Nonetheless, even as a symbolic homage the rotary range extender will address one of the glaring shortcomings for the MX-30; its dismal range.

As the first rotary in its line-up since the RX-8 was discontinued in 2021, the petrol engine will function in similar vein to the BMW i3 Range Extender, which sees a 125 kW motor and a two-cylinder petrol engine to charge it that improves the range up to 435 km.

Set to be dubbed the MX-30 REx, the variant will first go on sale in Europe and should place it on a level playing field with the estimated range of approximately 400 km. This should put it on par with the likes of the Kia Niro EV and MG 4 EV though it should be mentioned the latter 2 models don’t feature range extenders.

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Much of the disrespect targeted at the MX-30 was due to its abysmal range of only around 200 km; way below any of its rivals.

Currently, the MX-30 makes a modest 147 PS and 271 Nm of torque to the front wheels via a single electric motor with a 35.5 kWh battery pack.

While the range-extended MX-30 should retain the same overall power figures, expect the electric range to be further reduced as the battery pack will have to be made smaller to accommodate a fuel tank. However, the trade-off is more overall range with the rotary engine charging the battery.

On paper, a rotary engine makes perfect sense as a range-extender. Its compact dimensions mean it can be easily fitted into most cars and instead of driving the wheels, using it as a generator to charge the battery further offsets the notorious emissions and poor fuel consumption synonymous with the engine.

Furthermore, since its sole purpose is to charge the battery, the engine will only be running at its most efficient engine speed and firing it up only when necessary. This will keep the emissions down.