As cool as the rotary engine is, Mazda’s attempt at a rotary hybrid is flogging the deadest of dead horses.
We will be driving an old RX7 in the '24 hours of Lemons' this year. Looking forward to pushing it in a nice casual race. Mechanically, we were not at a point where it was solid enough for 2022. I think the rotary engine was the only thing that was working. :)
yes I am well aware of Prius series configuration but it is still a regular engine shrunk down and fine tuned. What I am asking for is something very ground up redesigned for maximizing one thing only efficiency of energy conversion. couple of examples of this are Aquarius engines or [1]. basically you cut out all the unnecessary stuff and all the maintenance/repair plus cost with it. Current engines are complex beca…
And how will the tens of billions in R&D cost, reconfiguring the supply chain, service network investments, etc., be amortized?
Last I checked toyota's market cap was 220B+, they have been burning cash on Hydrogen fuel cell BS for a decade plus. that costs money too. BTW if a startup like Aquarious & some research center in UK can do it then so can they. all the rest of expenses come later when technology is promising & starts deploying. But thats when market also rewards you for innovation & not just maintaining you P/E ratios & EBITDA margins. That is essentially what tesla did. The sad thing is that hybrids now have existed for 2 decades+ but they chose not to scale up any hybrid production beyond compliance cars. Basically they are Kodak-ing their way out of existence if Stanford professor Tony Seba is to be believed.
This motor is doomed... dirty exhaust gases exiting through part of the rotor? Only a matter of time before carbon+sludge builds up and the thing is out of balance. This is one of those designs that works fine initially when everything is fresh. Diesel piston engines work fine when everything is worn out and full of goo.
The exhaust gas recirculation valve on a modern diesel engine does exactly this. It diverts a portion of the exhaust product back into the intake manifold of the engine to achieve more complete combustion and lower emissions. Yes, it does result in a buildup of goo in the intake. No, the engine does not run well in that state. That’s what maintenance is for. Clean out the goo every 50,000km or so and it’s fine. Moder…
> The exhaust gas recirculation valve on a modern diesel engine does exactly this
Anyone who thinks the EGR valve should be made part of the rotating assembly requiring a complete overhaul to clean out, unbalancing the assembly until that occurs, needs their head examined.
Wankel is noticeably worse in about every metric, especially pollution and lifetime, so I wouldn't be too excited about it.
Agreed. I feel the same way about every programming language beyond assembly. I mean, what's the point of trying something new and different if it isn't immediately better than the competition in every possible metric?
And how will the tens of billions in R&D cost, reconfiguring the supply chain, service network investments, etc., be amortized?
Last I checked toyota's market cap was 220B+, they have been burning cash on Hydrogen fuel cell BS for a decade plus. that costs money too. BTW if a startup like Aquarious & some research center in UK can do it then so can they. all the rest of expenses come later when technology is promising & starts deploying. But thats when market also rewards you for innovation & not just maintaining you P/E ratios & EBITDA margi…
My first thought went to cargo ships. They require huge motors, so I imagine that if you can keep or gain performance while reducing size they would be very interested.
this is backwards. the reason cargo ship engines are big is because they don't care about size. they would rather have a 2x bigger engine that was 1% more efficient
> this is backwards. the reason cargo ship engines are big is because they don't care about size. they would rather have a 2x bigger engine that was 1% more efficient
this is backwards. the reason cargo ship engines are big is because they don't care about size. they would rather have a 2x bigger engine that was 1% more efficient
> this is backwards. the reason cargo ship engines are big is because they don't care about size. they would rather have a 2x bigger engine that was 1% more efficient Depends on the fuel cost.
How so? 2x bigger has no bearing on fuel cost, but efficiency does.
rotary engines do not really scream at peak power... this is why Mazda has plans to use rotary at peak power to generate electricity for their hybrid EVs. re 20 years to make a new engine point, compare investment $ in traditional ICE across the car industry vs investment $ into rotary or other alternative engines (the former is order of magnitudes more)
Mazda still holding on to those rotary engines, eh? Still, call my interest piqued. I'll keep an eye out for their Wankel-EVs
Ok, so they're "shooting for" a performance of 1hp per 1.57 lbs of engine weight. A Toyota Camry engine produces 1hp for every 1.41 lbs of engine weight. It produces 1ft-lb of torque for every 1.94 pounds of engine weight, compared to 1.58 for the Camry. How is this revolutionary motor being outdone by a mid-range sedan engine?
I think the primary advantage is the size (about the size of a basketball) and the number of moving parts (just 2), and also its ability to use a range of fuels.
Last I checked toyota's market cap was 220B+, they have been burning cash on Hydrogen fuel cell BS for a decade plus. that costs money too. BTW if a startup like Aquarious & some research center in UK can do it then so can they. all the rest of expenses come later when technology is promising & starts deploying. But thats when market also rewards you for innovation & not just maintaining you P/E ratios & EBITDA margi…
What? Did you perhaps read a different comment?
if you ignore the last 2 lines of my comment (or read them as a separate paragraph) you will get a direct answer to your questions.
..Or you can chose to respond with another one line remark without explaining your thoughts.