According to a post put out by Mazda on China’s Weibo social media site yesterday, the “rotary engine makes the world a more beautiful place”, and PH would have to agree. Ten times over. Mazda’s high-revving rotary technology has been greatly missed since the departure of the RX-8 and while we’ve occasionally been teased with the prospect of a return, by and large we’d accepted that emissions limits had spelled its permanent retreat from the engine bay. It’s somewhat ironic, then, to see that rotary is set for an imminent return in the boot of an all-new EV – and that this could be the key to giving a rotary sports car a real chance of revival.

The Changan Mazda (Mazda’s Chinese venture) model is due to be announced this Monday, and while we’ve nothing more to go on other than some poetic Chinese quotes about how lovely rotary tech is, it’s expected to be an electric vehicle with rotary range extender tech. We think that because a) pretty much every new Chinese car is electric these days and b) there’s a Cosmo Sport on the social media post, which is the Mazda that launched the famous Wankel engine back in 1967.

Before we get all disheartened by the demotion of rotary tech into the role of battery charger, remember that rotary range extenders could actually be key in ensuring there’s financial backing for the production of a Wankel RX-9. Indeed, Mazda has just put out a patent for a spaceframe structure with CFRP that looks just the sort which could underpin a new sports car. More significantly, it has an overtly Wankel-sized engine bay. We won’t be the only ones joining dots to speculate that the development of next week’s rotary-assisted EV will be opening doors for a bigger rotary to power an RX-9.

Mazda has long-teased the idea of such a model, its 2015 RX-Vision being the last physical demonstration of the marque’s intention to succeed the RX-8. If it does make production (cross everything!), a rotary sports car to sit above the MX-5 would almost certainly be turbocharged and probably make use of hybrid assistance to further boost efficiency and cut CO2. While that might displease some purists, it’s probably the only feasible way for Wankel propulsion to return, so we doubt many would complain. Expect more than just EV fans to be observing the brand’s Chinese EV reveal next Monday…