Talk of radically different designs always leads to a single name – Wankel. The Wankel rotary engine, most notably used in automobiles by Mazda, has been around since the late 1950’s.

Powertrain engineering firm AVL has built a prototype Mini with an ER-EV powertrain that uses a 254 cc single-rotor Wankel to produce 15 kilowatts at 5,000 rpm or 25 kW at 7,000 rpm.