The Gorgeous Mazda Vision X-Coupe Is A 503bhp Rotary Hybrid

We’ve recently had a go in Mazda’s handsome new electric liftback saloon, the 6e, and it’s fair to say it’s a bit of a mixed bag – in part because Mazda didn’t have that much to do with the development. The Vision X-Coupe concept, though, unveiled today at the Tokyo Motor Show, is all Mazda – very pretty, a bit strange, and powered by a rotary engine. Oh yes.

Mazda calls it a crossover but we’re really not getting that vibe at all – it’s almost more like a big, low hatchback. It has four doors, four seats and some very funky lighting arrangements going on at the back. Inside, meanwhile, it gets a minimalist cabin with – get this – analogue dials, and lots of high-end looking materials.

The really interesting stuff, though, is happening underneath, because this is the second Mazda concept in recent years to feature that most Mazda-ish of things, a rotary engine. Unlike the equally stunning Iconic SP from a couple of years ago, where the rotary was a range extender for electric motors, the Vision X-Coupe seems to be a more traditional plug-in hybrid.

The engine itself is a twin-rotor, a la RX-7, and turbocharged to boot. While Mazda doesn’t give much else away in terms of details, it says that the system overall chucks out a healthy 503bhp, and that when running on electric power only, the car can theoretically travel up to 99 miles. That range increases to 497 miles with engine and motors working together.

Mazda also says the X-Coupe’s been designed to run on sustainable fuel made from microalgae, and features the company’s in-house carbon capture system which, it claims, removes more CO2 from the atmosphere the more you drive. That might be the ultimate win-win scenario if Mazda can make it work.

We have no idea if Mazda has any plans to put something like this into production – the company just says it “embodies the further evolution of ‘Kodo – Soul of Motion’ design language” – but it is further evidence that the company is getting ever more serious about making rotaries a thing again, and we all need more rapidly spinning triangles in our lives.