Nissan NISMO Zeod RC
World's fastest electric racing car can go over 185MPH and is set to compete at Le Mans
World's fastest electric racing car can go over 185MPH and is set to compete at Le Mans
- Nissan's ZEOD RC is more than twice as fast as current electric road cars
- Over the next year the UK car maker will trial new technologies to boost the cars performance
- It will then race at next year's Le Mans 24 Hours motorsport event
Nissan has unveiled the world's fastest electric
racing car that can reach speeds of more than 185mph - twice the speed of
current electric road cars.
The Zero Emission On Demand Racing Car - ZEOD RC
- is fitted with modified versions of the electric technology used in the UK car maker's
LEAF model.
The ZEOD RC will make its race debut at next
year's Le Mans 24 Hour event in France.
Nissan unveiled the car to fans ahead of this
weekend's Le Mans 24 Hour race.
The car will compete under the Automobile Club de
l'Ouest's 'Garage 56' entry - an additional spot on the grid for vehicles that
showcase new and innovative technology.
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Nissan plans to test various types of engine and
electric technologies in the new car over the next year to increase its
performance for the race.
These trials will then be used to create
technology for future electric road cars.
Nissan said it will showcase these developments
as they happen on its YouTube channel and Nismo.TV.
The ZEOD RC design team was headed by Ben Bowlby
who was recently appointed as Nissan's Director of Motorsport Innovation.
Nissan unveils 185mph electric
racing car
Bowley said: 'The Nissan ZEOD RC is a natural
progression that follows on from the development of the Nissan LEAF road car
and the LEAF RC race car prototype.
'The technologies developed through the program
will form part of future innovations for road cars.
'The program is designed to develop multiple
technologies to evaluate how they could be used for a future return of Nissan
at Le Mans. We
are investigating multiple options.
'A Zero Emission On Demand option - where the
driver can switch between electric and petrol-powered drive - is a future
direction for road cars, so that will be tested in addition to pure electric
power and other new technologies.'
While current battery technology doesn't provide
the energy storage capacity to race a solely electric Le Mans prototype, Bowlby believes the
development of the car will be an important step in the 'electrification' of
motorsport.
'A car like this provides an incredibly
challenging test bed for what could be highly-effective options for road cars.
Throughout the next year we will be testing multiple drive trains in an
extensive test program,' Bowlby said.
NISSAN'S ELECTRIC TECHNOLOGY
The technology in Nissan's ZEOD RC car builds
upon its electric designs in its Leaf model.
Leaf stands for Leading, Environmentally
friendly, Affordable, Family.
It uses an 80 kW and 280 N-m front-mounted
electric motor that drives the front axle, powered by a 24 kilowatt-hours
lithium ion battery pack.
This system is designed to create up to 90
kilowatts (120 hp) power.
The current Leaf model can reach speeds of up to
93 mph and it goes from zero to 60 mph in 9.9 seconds.
The battery pack is designed to retain 70 to 80
per cent of its capacity for 10 years.
The Leaf also has an auxiliary 12-volt lead-acid
battery that powers the car computer systems including the radio, headlights and
windshield wipers.
A U.S version also has a small solar panel on the
rear spoiler.
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