Automotive Engineering - August 2023 - 7

TECHNOLOGY REPORT
ENGINES
Mazda again producing
rotary engines
RESEARCH
Toyota to build new battery lab in Michigan
Rotary engine-based generator for the new
PHEV variant of Mazda's MX-30 crossover.
Artist rendering depicts the automotive battery lab at Toyota's Michigan R&D campus in York Township.
Mazda, the automaker with the longest
and richest history of using the Wankel
rotary engine announced that it resumed
mass production of rotary engines for a
new variant of the MX-30 compact
crossover. Mazda provided little detail
about the engine itself, which serves as a
generator for the MX-30 e-SKYACTIV
R-EV, a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) variant of
the MX-30 crossover. Mazda hasn't used
the unique powerplant for a production
vehicle for more than a decade.
The MX-30 e-SKYACTIV R-EV employs
the rotary engine in a series-hybrid
layout to generate electricity to
replenish the vehicle's 17.8-kWh lithiumion
battery, which when fully charged,
can provide up to 85 km (31 miles) of
driving range on Europe's Worldwide
Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP)
cycle. Gasoline from a 50-L (13.2-gal.)
fuel tank supplies the rotary when its
operation is required to provide electricity
for extended-range driving. In a
release, Mazda explained it " positioned
it [the rotary engine] on the same axle
as a high-output motor and a generator "
in the front engine bay.
The vehicle's battery pack also can be
recharged with AC or DC fast-charging.
Mazda has yet to say whether the vehicle
will be offered in North America;
the MX-30 e-SKYACTIV R-EV was revealed
in Europe in January. It is the
company's first completely electric-drive
model and is built in Hiroshima, Japan.
Bill Visnic
AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING
Toyota will invest nearly $50 million for
a new automotive battery lab at its R&D
headquarters in York Township,
Michigan. The lab is expected to be operational
in 2025, the same year that
Toyota begins producing its first U.S.assembled
EV. " The battery lab will be
our first dedicated test facility in North
America. Right now, battery testing is
being done globally in the Toyota network
and at our Toyota family of suppliers, "
Jordan Choby, group vice president
of powertrain at Toyota Motor
North America (TMNA) R&D, told SAE
Media during a press event.
Initial design plans for the Michigan
R&D battery lab outline a 24,000-sq.ft.
facility. But the footprint could change,
which has been the case with Toyota's
under-construction battery manufacturing
plant in Liberty, North Carolina, the
automaker's first battery production site
in North America. " Based on the volumes
that we are forecasting, we're expanding
an expansion before the original
plant is even built. So that's how fluid the
situation is in North Carolina, " Jeff
Makarewicz, group vice president for
technical resources at TMNA R&D, said in
an interview with SAE Media.
The technical specialists working at
the new lab will be involved in battery
development and testing. " The testing
that we'll do in the battery lab will cover
cell testing - from cell characterization,
cell durability, cell performance and cell
quality to battery modules and packs, "
said Choby. Workers also will be involved
with evaluations, such as using
Level 2 AC and Level 3 DC fast chargers
as well as connectivity to power sources
and to the infrastructure. On a related
note, chassis dynamometers at TMNA
R&D headquarters and TMNA's Ann
Arbor facility are being upgraded to
accommodate EV evaluations.
While Toyota currently offers 22 electrified-vehicle
options in the U.S. across the
Toyota and Lexus brands, a shift to U.S.produced
batteries is coming mid-decade.
" It's important that we have boots
on the ground that can support local
manufacturing, " Makarewicz said, noting
the automaker's first U.S.-assembled EV, a
three-row SUV, will be produced at
Toyota Kentucky in 2025. " In addition to
supporting U.S. manufacturing, battery
lab workers also will be looking at new
technologies, new designs and new materials,
and this provides us with an opportunity
to scale up and pilot some of
these technologies in the U.S., " said
Makarewicz.
Various battery lab initiatives will address
methods to achieve improvements,
such as through software control. Lab
R&D work also is likely to entail devising
ways to repair, recycle and reuse batteries.
" This lab provides a footprint for us
to start building additional capabilities as
we build-out our battery electrification
ecosystem, so there are a lot of different
August 2023 7
FROM LEFT: MAZDA; TOYOTA

Automotive Engineering - August 2023

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