Mazda Rotary Engine Is Coming Back on an MX-30 Plug-In-Hybrid

• Mazda’s European branch announced this morning that the rotary engine will return on the 2023 MX-30 R-EV, set to be revealed on Friday, January 13.
• The company also unveiled a new logo featuring a lowercase “e” inside a triangle that mimics the shape of a rotary engine.
• The new powertrain should bring added utility to the MX-30, previously sold as an EV in the U.S. with a disappointing 100 miles of EPA-estimated range.

Despite a stylish exterior and Mazda’s typical athletic handling, the company’s first electric vehicle, the 2022 MX-30, fell short on the key attributes of a successful EV. The $34,000 crossover returned a mere 100 miles of EPA range and an even more paltry 70 miles on our highway range test, and trudged to 60 mph in a 8.7 seconds. But the MX-30 will soon be rejuvenated, becoming a plug-in hybrid as the rotary engine returns to Mazda’s lineup for the first time since 2012.

Details are still scarce, but Mazda in Europe announced this morning that the updated crossover, set to be called the MX-30 R-EV, will be revealed in full on January 13. The automaker also showed off a new logo that will presumably adorn the plug-in hybrid, featuring a lowercase “e” inside a triangle that represents the shape of a rotary engine.

Coming to U.S.?

While the MX-30 had been sold in the United States purely as an EV, a mild hybrid version with Mazda’s Skyactiv-G 2.0-liter inline-four was offered in Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. Mazda’s U.S. division has yet to mention the MX-30 R-EV, but we expect the plug-in hybrid version to arrive in the United States for the 2023 model year and sales will likely expand beyond California, where the all-electric MX-30 had been limited to. More details on U.S. availability should arrive after the rotary-engined crossover is revealed this Friday.

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