Comments on: Mazda to reorganize, focus on electric power

By: Hyperion

Hyperion — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 03:21:41 +0000

Please, Mazda, build one more RX-7 FD3S successor with a powerful rotary engine. Please. It’s days are numbered no matter what happens but one more fantastic rotary sportscar before it’s really too late would seal the legend and make many fans and car guys happy.

By: bigp

bigp — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:25:21 +0000

well i know that only the best will come from mazda

By: AFSOCSARGE

AFSOCSARGE — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 20:53:45 +0000

Electric is part of the future not the Entire Answer to the Energy Crisis Period ! It is totally Foolish to look ate on type of Propulsion especial when America’s Electric Grid is going into it’s Second Century. America makes half of it’s electricity from Coal so why would that be the only answer ? It will take Alternate Fuel, Renewable, CNG, And Electric. Oil will be a part until it is all used to it’s end.

-Sarge

By: Blakkarr

Blakkarr — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 20:30:34 +0000

Borat,

AMERICA is still the largest and go figure, richest world economy. The margin is not as big as it used to be.

Savedsol,

Electric propulsion is the future unless you can some how convince all those people in China and India NOT to use any more oil and fuel. The Energy equivalent the TESLA Roadster uses to go 250miles is equal to 125mpg of gasoline.

As the focus on fuel efficiency intensifies, the need to develop more efficient drive trains is growing critical. If you are hoping to be driving a 500hp, 15mpg, V8, after 2020, you better be making CEO money because those cars are only going to be made by companies that cater only to the super rich. However, 500hp electric motors already exist and you could build a 500hp, 50-60mpg single motor car today.

I wouldn’t rely on batteries this early on, maybe by 2020. But you can build a generator that can crank out the 600Kw at 200a needed to run such a machine that would get around 50-60mpg.

Serial Hybrids like the PRIUS and the INSIGHT are a stopgap and a joke. You can do as well with a Diesel but it would be a tiny one and performance would only be marginally better than a Prius. But like all fuel eaters, a Diesel can NOT produce performance without sacrificing a great deal of Fuel Efficiency.

As for TOYOTA, they have said early on that the PRIUS was a long term product, not a waste. While I regard Serial hybrids, as opposed to Parallel hybrids (Look it up before you ask), as a very poor and very short term solution, it has not been a waste. It will be if no one gets the hint that using a tiny underpowered gas engine and backing it up with a tiny underpowered electric motor will lead only to tiny unimpressive cars.

I’m not sure we are quite ready for the pure EV or EPO (Electric Power Only) car. Batteries are coming along but are still 10 years from being totally ready for the masses. Relatively expensive and narrowly marketed cars like the TESLA Model S and the upcoming APTERA, will find their early adopters and further research and development, but the longer view calls for Parallel hybrids like the Fisker Karma and the Chevy VOLT.

Now we just need to race them.

By: Borat

Borat — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:50:19 +0000

savedsol, CAFE has some pull in US, but US is less then 5% of worlds population and no longer the biggest and richest market (After EU & China). How CAFE affects those?

By: HoosierHero

HoosierHero — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:14:09 +0000

The government talked to them and “suggested” they develop electric so they don’t get assimilated into the borg.

By: johnnycanuck

johnnycanuck — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:19:02 +0000

Hey Mazda, just stay in your niche and you’ll be fine. Find every way you can to not be like everybody else. I’m not sure if this sudden change of attitude is the answer but I suppose if what ends up in your showrooms retains those traits it just might work.

By: A4

A4 — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:56:47 +0000

Poor Rudolf, he must be rolling in his grave.

By: savedsol

savedsol — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:41:39 +0000

Electric, hybrid = not the future. The manufacturers know it but stupid CAFE is making them adopt it. Before & AFTER the Prius came out Toyota was public with it’s opinion that hybrid and electric were a waste but if they can sell it they’ll build it.

By: JakeK66

JakeK66 — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:40:44 +0000

Well whaever they do end up with, we at least know it’s going to be more attractive than the competition’s. I’m amazed how pretty much everything out of Mazda ends up looking good, but the other Japanese products always looks akward or boring.

By: shane train

shane train — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:26:16 +0000

actually, savedsol, there’s alot of potential in this. I mean, they’re talking full EV, but Mazda could put out some good hybrid setups, since the immediate responsiveness of electric accelleration could work great with a small turbo engine to make a sporty hybrid.

By: Borat

Borat — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:25:10 +0000

if they were not looking at the segment, how they could make progress? and in the real world, there is a long road from progress in research to production.

By: savedsol

savedsol — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:24:13 +0000

“Zoom Zoom” becomes “Buzz Buzz” or “Zzzt Zzzt”?

By: JakeK66

JakeK66 — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:22:55 +0000

Remember earlier this year Ford had controlling share of the company, and now they don’t, I’m sure that’s everything to do with it. Ford didn’t want Mazda developing their own systems since it was repetitive with their own development, Now that they don’t have Ford – they are trying to become self suffecient.

By: shane train

shane train — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:16:19 +0000

I don’t know if it’s normal. Mazda hasn’t been doing TOO bad in this economy compared to others, have they? And they were really opposed to electric cars, I don’t get it.

Maybe they made some breakthrough in batteries or electric powertrains. It would have to be a BREAKTHROUGH to do this though.

By: Borat

Borat — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:13:50 +0000

!80 degrees change of direction in 2 months. What changed? Is it normal?