As the world’s only manufacturer of rotary engines,Mazda continues to develop and explore all the potential and possibilities of this unique internal combustion engine. The Renesis is Mazda’s next-generation rotary engine that was launched in early 2003 in the all-new Mazda RX-8. By virtue of its smooth performance, compact size and unique driving characteristics, Renesis was named International Engine of the Year in June 2003. It delivers high power output for a naturally aspirated engine of its size and demonstrates significantly improved fuel economy and reduced emissions compared with previous generation rotary engines.

Now, as the auto industry’s attention turns to hydrogen as a potential source of power for fuel cell vehicles, Mazda confidently presents a realistic example of its hydrogen-power technology, embodied in the hydrogen-powered version of the Renesis. Fun to drive and environmentally sound, the Renesis Hydrogen Rotary Engine is a Mazda-unique alternative-fuel vehicle. It is the ultimate demonstration of the flexibility of the unique rotary engine, maintaining a traditional driving feel, yet realizing extremely clean emissions through the use of hydrogen.

The Renesis Hydrogen Rotary Engine capitalizes on the advantages of the rotary engine to assure the same ease-of-operation and reliability whether the engine is running on gasoline or hydrogen fuel. Moreover, since the engine requires modifications to run on hydrogen, it could enable production of a relatively low-cost hydrogen-powered alternative-fuel vehicle. The engine has been developed with a dual-fuel system, allowing it to run on either gasoline or hydrogen, as Mazda believes desirable, flexible automotive choices will help effectively promote the usage of hydrogen fuel and the development of a supporting infrastructure.