2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 15:44
Mazda brings the hydrogen RX-8 to Europe. The sports car with a rotary engine will initially be used in Norway.
Mazda uses hydrogen rotary piston engines for the first time on public roads outside of Japan. After the Japanese announced this step two years ago when they opened a hydrogen filling station in Stavanger, Norway, a total of 30 Mazda RX-8 Hydrogen REs are now being made available for a practical test together with HyNor (Hydrogen Road of Norway). HyNor is a joint project consisting of industrial partners who want to promote hydrogen as a fuel in Norway's transport sector and help build a hydrogen economy, Mazda said. The plan is to develop a realistic hydrogen infrastructure in Norway: a 580-kilometer “Hydrogen Highway” from Oslo to Stavanger with numerous hydrogen filling stations.
Better hydrogen combustion
With the RX-8 Hydrogen RE wants to combine the development of technologies that reduce environmental pollution with driving fun. Mazda is the only automobile manufacturer in the world that produces rotary piston engines in large series. Due to its special architecture, the so-called Renesis unit is better suited for the combustion of hydrogen than a conventional reciprocating piston engine and is also comparatively easy to design for operation with hydrogen.
The Mazda RX-8 Hydrogen RE can run on both hydrogen and gasoline; The driver switches between the two operating modes at the push of a button. However, the RX-8 is not a food lover when running on petrol, 17 liters of fuel and half a liter of oil per tanking must be invested. (AG)
