Credit: Mazda

The Japan Mobility Show kicks off in Tokyo this week, and Mazda is using the occasion to show off a couple of concepts it says embody a theme called “the joy of driving fuels a sustainable tomorrow.” One of these is the Vision X-Coupe, which Mazda says shows off the evolution of its KODO design language—something we first saw at the Tokyo show a decade ago.

You can see a clear visual link between the renderings of the Vision X-Coupe and some of Mazda’s current models like the 3 hatchback or the CX-30 crossover, but translated through the long, low form factor of a four-door coupe. The design language is perhaps less interesting than some of the sustainability ideas that Mazda is exploring here, though.

The powertrain is a 503 hp (375 kW) plug-in hybrid that uses a two-rotor turbocharged rotary engine as the internal combustion part of the equation. Mazda says it should have a total range of 500 miles (800 km), with a range of 100 miles (160 km) on battery power alone.

But running the Vision X-Coupe’s engine shouldn’t cause too much guilt.

“After years of studying fuels and CO2 exhaust, Mazda now envisions a future where the more kilometers you drive, the more you help reduce CO2,” said Mazda president and CEO Masahiro Moro. “We believe this is achievable with two technologies: one, carbon-neutral refined fuel from microalgae and two, capture CO2 from [the] vehicle,” Moro said.

The Vision X-Coupe’s interior
Credit: Mazda

Mazda says it has succeeded in producing fuel from microalgae, although the throughput isn’t amazing: it says it “succeeded in producing over one liter of fuel from a 11,000-liter culture tank in about two weeks.” Once the fuel is extracted, Mazda thinks the leftovers can be used in food products or fertilizers.

The other technology is called “Mazda Mobile Carbon Capture,” which extracts CO2 directly from the car exhaust, although the information Mazda sent us ahead of time doesn’t go into more detail than that. But in November we should see it in action: the automaker says it will enter a car into a “super endurance race” equipped with the tech.

Vision X-Compact

The other vehicle Mazda brought to the show is the Vision X-Compact, which it says is “designed to deepen the bond between people and cars through the fusion of a human sensory digital model and empathetic AI,” which is capable of engaging the occupants in natural conversation, “helping expand the driver’s world.”

“It might say ‘Hey, remember that cafe you mentioned last week? There is a fun backroad that will get us there. Way more interesting than this highway.’ So you make the turn, and hear, ‘ooh, nice merge!’ Then gently, ‘Blind spot, left side.’ And your adventure continues,” said Kaisei Takahashi, designer of the Vision X-Compact.