Let’s Explore What The Mazda Rotary EV’s Reveal Means For The 2025 MX-5 Miata

Key Takeaways

• The Mazda Iconic SP Concept showcases the potential for fun and excitement in the future of the automotive industry, proving that sports cars can still thrive in the era of renewable energy.
• The concept car features a two-rotor rotary EV system, combining classic rotary technology with future electric power, allowing it to burn various fuels such as hydrogen and operate in a virtually carbon-neutral state.
• While it remains uncertain whether the Iconic SP Concept will directly influence the upcoming 2025 Mazda MX-5 Miata, the innovative power plant and sleek design of the concept car suggest a promising future for Mazda’s legendary sports cars.

Unveiled at the recent Japan Mobility Show, the Mazda Iconic SP Concept is one of the cars aiming to prove automotive doom-mongers wrong, showing that there is plenty of room for the sports car as we brave a whole new world in the car industry. The Iconic SP is one concept we want to see as a production car and it features a drivetrain of the future sporting technology of the past, and fans of Mazda will be keen to hear the word “rotary” once again. But what does this mean for the future of the brand’s most famous name? Could this concept car be a sign of things to come in the near future for the MX-5 Miata? Here’s the lowdown.

Mazda’s New Rotary EV System

To answer this question, first, we’ll give you a short description of the rotary engine and what makes it so unique. A favorite of a huge number of gearheads, especially those most interested in Japanese cars, the rotary engine is an innovative power plant featuring a unique rotor design, unlike the more common piston engines. The rotor, a three-sided triangle that rotates within an oblong chamber, rotates continuously in one direction creating a spinning motion generating power as the engine moves through the four phases of the engine cycle.

Performance Specs

The rotary engine features fewer moving parts compared to piston engines, and they are also compact and lightweight as well. They’re beloved among some areas of the automotive world for their smooth power delivery and high RPM operation with an impressive exhaust note and power-to-weight ratio, and they’re most associated, in the automotive world at least, with Mazda.

With their new two-rotor rotary EV system in the Iconic SP Concept, Mazda has taken its classic rotary technology and given it some future flavor. The engine is electric, but its batteries take power from a rotary engine which, apparently, can run on different types of fuel.

In a new release on the car, Mazda said of the engine:

“The two-rotor rotary EV system, which utilizes a highly scalable rotary engine that can burn various fuels such as hydrogen, generates electricity with carbon-neutral fuel. In addition, when the battery is charged with electricity derived from renewable energy, it is possible to drive in a virtually carbon-neutral state.”

The prospect of this new technology is one that will have sports car fans interested, especially those who have an interest in the rotary engine.

The Mazda Iconic SP Concept: What We Know

All of this fuss comes from a new concept car released by Mazda at the recent Japan Mobility Show, the Iconic SP. A gorgeous and futuristic concept car, Mazda’s creation has got people thinking hard about the future of the sports car.

We’ll start with its design which is simple, sleek, and aerodynamic. If it didn’t sport the iconic Mazda badge, you’d be forgiven for thinking that this new vehicle was a product of the likes of Ferrari, Jaguar, or Mercedes-Benz. Featuring gullwing doors, massive alloy wheels, and a slippery profile, the Iconic SP clearly has aerodynamics at the center of its design, and in terms of size, Mazda has said it is just a little longer and wider than the current ND Miata. The vehicle appears to have an automatic transmission operated by four separate toggle switches, but the rest of the interior doesn’t tell too many tales about the vehicle, only that it is simple and sports-oriented.

As discussed, the Iconic SP runs on a two-rotor EV system, with an electric motor doing all of the work to keep the vehicle going, but a rotary engine, powered by a range of various fuel types, keeps that electric motor going, and the rotary engine in the Iconic SP is, reportedly, capable of running on various fuel types, such as hydrogen.

Of course, this is just a concept car, so how much of the Iconic SP Concept will come to fruition in future Mazda cars remains to be seen, but the vehicle and its innovative power plant will likely have knock-on effects on the future of Mazda and its legendary brand of sports cars, including the inimitable MX-5 Miata.

The 2025 MX-5 Miata’s Potential Performance

Concept cars serve several purposes for manufacturers from showcasing technologies that have already been developed, to researching new techniques and features, and Mazda has likely developed the Iconic SP for one of these reasons. While the car may purely exist as a showcase for what Mazda can do, the legendary Japanese company may have developed the power plant to use in one of their sports cars of the future, maybe even the legendary MX-5 Miata.

Similar in style and stature to Mazda’s most famous vehicle, the Iconic SP fits the mold for what an MX-5 could look like in the future, and with the automotive world changing rapidly, and the use of the fossil-fuel-powered internal combustion engine coming to an end, this unique and innovative engine could, at the very least, inspire the power plant of the upcoming 2025 Mazda Miata.

2023 Mazda MX-5 Performance

Perhaps, as it stands, the two-rotor EV system is too out there to be used in its current format. There are no major rivals to this project right now, and it looks like the vast majority of the industry is embracing battery-powered electric vehicles for the time being, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the rotary EV system will never exist in any format. What we do know is that Mazda has yet to produce an electric version of the Miata, the company has hinted the car will feature a combustion engine, and they’re very unlikely to discontinue it any time soon. Does this rotary EV system have enough upsides to make it a viable power plant of the future, or is it just a showcase of what Mazda’s engineers can do? It entirely depends on the manufacturer’s choices and what they deem important for the next generation of Miata. As long as it remains quick, lightweight, balanced, and simple, we’re sure the legacy of the MX-5 will continue into the future.

Sources: Mazda Newsroom.