motor/generator for a range extender is very simple. No gearbox, much smaller than gas engine to drive a car. Indeed Mazda was flitting with using the rotary

motor/generator for a range extender is very simple. No gearbox, much smaller than gas engine to drive a car. Indeed Mazda was flitting with using the rotary for the range extender - rotaries are TINY. There was an RX-7 repair shop behind mine and the guys could pick the engines up out of the engine bay by hand - couple hundred pounds tops. A rotary for a range extender would probably be a bit bigger than the average cars starter. Runs at fixed speed in the optimal power band for the engine makes it incredibly efficient as well as reliable. Yes, it adds more complexity but it also gets you something you can't get with an all electric - hundreds of miles of range in minutes with a simple gas tank fill up. Yes, it would be great if the technology was mature enough to go pure EV. But batteries and power delivery for them isn't there for the vast majority of people. So rather than stick our heads in the sand, what's wrong with transitional technology while we work on plugging the gaps? Our new inability to compromise is going to be the death of western society :p