Arguably, the Takeri concept is Mazda’s most important attraction at this week's Tokyo Motor Show. Intended to showcase the styling of the Mazda6's replacement that is due in 2013, it adopts many elements of the new “Kodo” design introduced in the Shinari concept, which is also on display at the firm's Tokyo stand. Powering the 4,850mm long four-door sedan study is the new SKYACTIV-D 2.0-liter diesel engine linked to the firm's new 6-speed automatic transmission.
The Takeri is also fitted with Mazda’s i-stop idling stop system and a unique regenerative braking system called ‘i-ELOOP’ (Intelligent Energy Loop). The i-ELOOP is billed as the world’s first kinetic energy recovery system that uses a capacitor and a 25V to 12V alternator instead of a traditional battery pack.
The Japanese company claims that this solution, which will be introduced gradually to all of its models not equipped with an electric motor starting from 2012, has many advantages over a conventional electric motor-battery combination.
Research conducted by Mazda’s engineers showed that the average deceleration cycle lasts only about 10 seconds. Therefore, the capacitor’s ability to charge much more rapidly over a battery gives it an advantage.
In addition, while the capacitor takes about a minute to be fully charged, in city driving conditions, charging frequently commences before it is fully discharged. In that respect, the capacitor has another advantage over a battery, in that its performance does not deteriorate after prolonged use.
Mazda claims that, unlike other battery-based systems, i-ELOOP does not use the internal combustion engine to charge the capacitor, which would result in an increase in fuel consumption.
According to Mazda, the combination of all these technologies on its new diesel engine offers up to 20 percent reduction in fuel consumption over a conventional model of the same size and an impressive cruising range of up 1,500 km (933 miles).
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