New Lease of Life for Mazda Rotary Engine

The fame rotary engine of Mazda is now part of the electric vehicle with range extender gasoline engine. Displacing mere 330cc, the rotary engine has an advantage of super compact packaging which enable it to be installed beneath the boot floor of the compact car, the Mazda2, or Demio as it is known in Japan.

For the technology demonstrator, Mazda has equipped the car 75kW electric motor powered by lithium-ion battery pack. The electric power unit is mounted at the front of the car engine bay, while the rotary engine is installed at the rear, beneath the boot. This is primarily because the engine flat in nature and can be packaged in a horizontal layout. Other advantage of the rotary engine is its quietness, 87dBA at 3,000rpm instead of up to 96 dBA with other type of engine. Displacing 330cc, the engine is connected to 9L fuel tank and can produce up to 25kW of power.

Photo source: Carwatch

Nissan Leaf now in Malaysia - technical details + small gallery

Edaran Tan Chong Motor (ETCM) launched the Pilot Program, where the member of the public can register their interest to the the Leaf Ambassador. Basically, apart from getting to enjoy the EV ride for a prolong period of up to 6 weeks, the selected ambassador will also have to enlighten, share and encourage the journey toward emission-free ride. The ambassador need to share the stories via any creative media. Full details can be read HERE. However, if you are only full of curiosity, and have the total lack of talent to share the stories, you can merely test drive the Nissan Leaf in Nissan's PJ showroom. So if you are keen to taste how the electric drivetrain feels like, you know where you should go.

Nissan Leaf was introduced to the Japan, US and Europe market towards the end of 2010.   The car embodied  Nissan's radical, transformative vision for the future and the culmination of decades of investment and research. Key characteristics of the Nissan LEAF include zero-emission power train and platform, affordable pricing, distinctive design and real-world range of 160km. The car is powered by electric synchronous motor capable in producing 110bhp and 280Nm, where drive is channelled to the front wheel via a single speed direct drive. The car is powered by Lithium-ion battery with 24 KWh capacity, where its physical location is spread across the floor for packaging and mass optimization. Full charge of 8 hours is good for 160km, Nissan reckoned. According to Paultan blog, full charge will cost you around RM7.90 of electricity. So do your math to compare the equivalence to petrol-RM-mileage according to your respective car.

The innovative package is accommodated with the hatchback bodystyle. Nissan Leaf measures 4,445mm long, 1,770mm wide and 1,550mm tall. Wheelbase is 2,700mm. Kerb weight is quoted as 1,521kg. According to Nissan, the Leaf can sprint beyond 140 km/h, but we reckoned the mileage will be a lot less if you really floor it this way. Boot volume for the Nissan Leaf is 330L, competitive with C Segment hatchback.

ETCM has not yet announced the sales of its new EV car. However, in other market, Nissan Leaf is considered to be quite pricey, which is totally expected as the niche innovative component does not comes cheap. In UK, after deducting goverment grant, Nissan Leaf is priced at GBP25,990, around GBP10k more than the similarly-sized gasoline/diesel competitors. In Malaysia however, don't rule out the introduction of government incentives just like the NAP policy for the small capacity hybrid.

Small gallery can be found after the jump. 

Taiwan's new EV concept - Avant GT

There's new concept car that runs on pure EV mode, called Avant GT. The Taiwan car is the product of five companies collaboration, design firm Studio X-Gene, Simulation software company Altair and technology partners Delta Electronics, Wistron and Qisda.

The car is pitched as "pure electric sports grand tourer", perhaps akin to Porsche Panamera and Aston Martin Rapide, but with environment-friendly electric drivetrain.

The car showcased Taiwan automotive engineering expertise, and partnering with Altair Engineering, the product was exposed to the latest computer simulation and design optimization available in the market today. More after the jump.