(27 Oct 04)

An engineer who purses his lips at any mention of rotaries once admitted to us that they would be ideal for hydrogen power. Mazda, as the world's only builder of rotary-engined cars and keen on hydrogen power too, has been working on various projects of that kind since 1991, with cars and vans, and even a fuel cell golf cart. Some of these vehicles never got beyond the stage of operating on private ground, although the Japanese authorities did occasionally authorise public road testing.

They have now given the same approval for the intriguing RX-8 dual-fuel H2RE prototype, a step forward - or sideways - from the full-hydrogen RX-8 coupé displayed at last year's Tokyo Show. It runs on either petrol or hydrogen, with the 74-litre high-pressure hydrogen tank occupying the boot so that the car's four-seater capability is unaltered, and as Mazda says could "travel beyond the range of the few hydrogen filling stations now available".

Mazda will start testing the H2RE to assess how practical it is in everyday use, and within the next two years plans to have a number of these cars on lease to government departments and fleet users.

Mazda Road Tests

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