LOS ANGELES — Followers of the beloved rotary engine, rejoice.

Whereas it will not be slotted in a nifty sports activities automotive, Mazda plans to carry its first electrical car, the MX-30 crossover, to the U.S. with a rotary engine as a range-extending possibility.

Previous to Mazda’s affirmation of the plans this month, the MX-30 was anticipated to be bought principally in Japan and Europe, given its modest 35.5-kilowatt-hour battery and 124-mile vary.

Mazda first provided a rotary engine — famously compact, light-weight, high-revving and easy — within the Nineteen Sixties and hit gold when it started powering the RX-7 sports activities automotive in 1978. The engine was dropped in 2012 although Mazda has flirted with and studied a revival seemingly ever since.

The MX-30 launched as an EV in Europe late final yr, and it went on sale in Japan as a gentle hybrid utilizing an present Mazda piston engine.

Jeff Guyton, president of Mazda North America Operations, described the U.S. model as an EV with a rotary-engine vary extender in an interview with The Detroit Bureau.

A Mazda spokesperson advised Automotive Information that the U.S. model “shall be accessible as each a totally electrical mannequin and a sequence plug-in hybrid, that includes a rotary engine. Further details about availability shall be launched on the applicable time.”

The MX-30 is analogous in measurement to the CX-3 and CX-30 subcompact crossovers now bought within the U.S. However the MX-30 has “freestyle doorways” that open together with the entrance doorways like an extended-cab pickup.