Drew Dowdell

According to the meta data it was in Maxwell Place Park, NJ

No, Regenesis is not the official name, but if it turns out it is, I’m sending an invoice to Mazda. Mazda’s stylish EV with an underwhelming range, the Mazda MX-30, has been rumored on again off again to get a rotary powered range extender since at least the Summer of 2021. The MX-30 went on sale in Europe and Japan at that time and reached California shortly after. Sales of the Mazda MX-30 in the US totaled 324 last year before they were "sold out". Sales of the MX-30 have been disappointing due to several factors. The range is an issue with only 100 miles of it, lower than the lowest range Nissan Leaf. Power output is low at 141 horsepower and 195 lb.-ft of torque, while the Chevy Bolt EV has 200 horsepower and 266 torques. Then there is the odd two-door with a rear suicide door arrangement. Finally, the interior room is quite small. Mazda will be addressing the range issue with the release of the updated MX-30 R-EV, due to be shown at the Brussels Motor Show this Friday, January 13th. Initially, only for the European market, it will expand to North America shortly after and hopefully break the confines of The Golden State. The rotary engine will not drive the EV’s wheels directly but instead keep the batteries charged, similar to what we expect from the recently announced RAM 1500 REV. Rotaries are expected to be well suited to be range extenders as they are very compact, run better than piston engines at high RPM, and produce less vibration at those high RPMs. Rumors suggest that the R-EV version would have double the range of the pure EV. Still, 200 miles is still below larger EVs like the Bolt and Leaf. We will have more updates for you on Friday when Mazda takes the wraps off the MX-30 in Belgium. View full article

I come down to Rehoboth Beach sometimes. I'll have to coordinate with you.

Welcome back @Cmicasa the Great, I got something new myself since you've been here last.

There is such a wide range of performance in three season tires that I’m sure these will fall somewhere on the spectrum quite easily. As for cost, I’m sure they will cost more initially, as Goodyear is still sorting out the supply chain, but eventually they’ll come to price parity.

Tires with very low rolling resistance are generally not great in snow/ice. These will be 3-season tires (I don't believe in All-Seasons). That said, no, Goodyear didn't say anything beyond the fact that they have regulatory approval and they've passed internal testing.

It's possible, but it is a much larger unit and I doubt whatever they put in will have a turbo. I could see a non-turbo 2.0 going in though.

When thinking about making vehicles greener, most people think about how green a vehicle is; they typically think about fuel economy or the shift toward electric propulsion. But there are plenty of other petroleum products in vehicles, the largest being the tires on all 4 corners. Goodyear Tire announced last week that they have developed a demonstration concept tire that is made of 90% sustainable materials, and most importantly, it has already passed all regulatory testing. This demonstration concept is part of Goodyear’s quest to make a tire from 100% sustainable material by 2030. The company first debuted a 70% sustainable tire in January 2022 that they intend to put into production later this year. The 90% sustainable material tire uses the following recycled or replacement materials: Carbon black, which is included in tires for compound reinforcement and to help increase their life, has traditionally been made by burning various petroleum products. Goodyear’s demonstration tire features four different types of carbon black that are produced from methane, carbon dioxide, plant-based oil, and end-of-life tire pyrolysis oil feedstocks. The use of soybean oil in this demonstration tire helps keep the tire’s rubber compound pliable in changing temperatures. Soybean oil is a bio-based resource that helps to reduce Goodyear’s use of petroleum-based products. While nearly 100% of soy protein is used in food/animal feed applications, a significant surplus of oil is left over and available for industrial applications. Silica is an ingredient often used in tires to help improve grip and reduce fuel consumption. This demonstration tire includes high-quality silica from rice husk waste residue, a byproduct of rice processing that is often discarded and put into landfills. Polyester is recycled from post-consumer bottles by reverting the polyester into base chemicals and reforming them into polyester used in tire cords. Resins are used to help improve and enhance tire traction performance. In this demonstration tire, traditional petroleum-based resins are replaced with bio-renewable pine tree resins. Bead wire and steel cords reinforce the structure of a radial tire. This demonstration tire uses bead wire and steel cord from steel with high-recycled content, which is produced using the electric arc furnace (EAF) process. The utilization of the EAF process allows for steel to be produced with reduced energy use and higher recycled content. The EAF process has the potential for lower greenhouse gas emissions than steel produced using a blast furnace. Aside from the sustainability in the tire’s construction, the 90% sustainable-material tire has a lower rolling resistance than a traditional tire, allowing for better fuel economy or a longer electric vehicle range. Goodyear plans to further develop this tire into production, though a timeline has not yet been released.  Customers interested in purchasing the 70% sustainable-materials tires can register for updates at Goodyear.com/SustainableMaterialTire   View full article

So, the reason the Volt was so complicated was because of the electric drive/transmission. It had two electric motors sandwiched into a single unit and connected with two clutchs. During hard acceleration, it used both of them, but in normal circumstances or at cruising, it used the larger motor at a low power draw to keep you moving because horsepower needs on a flat highway at 65mph are minimal... we're talking like 20ish - 30ish horsepower. With both motors engaged at full power, the Volt could make about 220 horsepower in sport mode. If you were at a steady cruise and the Volt decided it needed to regenerate the battery, the gas engine (1.5 liter naturally aspirated) would kick on and use the smaller of the two electric motors as a generator to top up the batteries and keep you on your way. There was a rare situation where if you had a battery with zero range left AND you were cruising above 80 mph, GM found that it was actually more fuel efficient to just lock both electric motors to the engine shaft and have the gas motor direct drive the wheels. This caused a big bruhahah when Jalopnick released this tidbit with them accusing GM of lying about the Volt being a hybrid. The way GM did this was via a planetary gear sets connected to those electric motors and also to the gas engine. It was through this they were able to to have so many combinations of power in a single unit. It was both incredibly complex yet elegantly simple. They did something similar with the CT6-PHEV but they built the transmission as a 6-speed with 2 eCVTs built in as well which makes the CT6-PHEV one of the oddest vehicles to operate. So, the reason I don't see them doing it as a hybrid is that it involves way too much complexity. They'd need a transmission, a large enough gas tank, all the exhaust plumbing, etc.... and where are they going to put all of that. In an ideal world, I'd see them build a small displacement flat-4 around 1.2L- 1.5L and tie it to a generator only. They could put it in the back under the bed if they wanted, or up in the traditional spot under the hood. My bet, however, is that they use the non-turbo version of the 1.3 liter in the Dodge Hornet. This engine family is very compact, it fits in the Fiat 500, and could provide enough juice to increase range while letting the electric motors do all of the pulling. And remember, this is just a range extender, not an infinite range cheat-code. It's not meant to replace plugging in, but just to buy the driver time between charge stops when towing.