INTERVIEW: CHRISTIAN SCHULZE 1 1 1 & 2. Mazda has worked on the potential of hydrogen fuel for rotaries in the past, but is currently skeptical about its use in automotive UNIQUE POSITION 2 Despite the MX-30 R-EV’s intriguing use of a rotary engine – made possible by a raft of R&D work to reduce emissions and improve efficiency – Schulze says the technology is unlikely to be used outside of a range extender application. “This range extender concept is very specifically for the transition period from combustion engines to EVs, when there are still likely to be areas where the charging infrastructure is insufficient,” he notes. He acknowledges that it’s natural for customers to focus on EV range figures while recharging opportunities are still relatively scarce, but believes this too will change as the infrastructure improves: “Longer range increases the chances that you can keep going to the next charging point. But if you consider a later point in time when you can charge virtually everywhere and you can charge quickly, the need for long-range batteries dramatically reduces.” Schulze and his colleagues in Leverkusen are specifically tasked with looking at technologies for the European market. But part of their wider brief is to report back to Mazda’s headquarters in Japan. “This gives us a unique “THIS RANGE EXTENDER CONCEPT IS VERY SPECIFICALLY FOR THE TRANSITION PERIOD FROM COMBUSTION” position within our corporation because what we’ve seen is that Europe is still a kind of nucleus for the automotive industry,” he explains. “On the one hand, it’s where a lot of the new technologies are developed, and on the other hand it’s also responsible for a lot of new regulations that then get carried over to other regions like the US or China. Europe will remain very important for the international OEMs.” Mazda’s European R&D operation will have plenty to do over the next few years. It’s pursuing a three-pronged approach, with varying levels of electrification but with gasoline and diesel still very much part of the conversation. Quite how the split between those three technologies will work out in the long term remains to be seen. But don’t be surprised if Mazda throws a few curveballs 36 www.automotivepowertraintechnologyinternational.com / March 2024