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Nissan today unveiled the groundbreaking, innovative ZEOD RC - the world’s fastest electric racing car that will reach speeds of more than 300km/h with electric technology at the Le Mans 24 Hours.

The ZEOD RC (Zero Emission On Demand Racing Car) will make its race debut at next year’s Le Mans 24 Hours. The global leader in electric vehicles for the road, Nissan will trial variants of new electric drive train technologies as part of its intended future return to LM P1 competition to challenge for overall victory at the world’s most prestigious endurance race.

Nissan’s invitation from the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) to compete in the 2014 Le Mans 24 Hours was announced by Nissan Chairman and CEO, Carlos Ghosn in Japan in February. The car will compete under the ACO’s ‘Garage 56’ entry – an additional spot on the grid for vehicles that showcase new and innovative technology.

Run as a Nissan / Nismo full factory international program with input from Japan, Europe and the US, the Nissan ZEOD RC design team is headed by Ben Bowlby who has been newly-appointed as Nissan’s Director of Motorsport Innovation and previously worked on the Nissan DeltaWing program in 2012.

While the car will not race until next year’s Le Mans 24 Hours, Nissan today kicked off a unique aspect of the program – race fans getting the chance to unveil the car in the public area of the Circuit de la Sarthe. Nissan intends to draw back the curtain for fans across the globe to provide continued updates via its international partnership with YouTube and its Nismo.TV channel.

“Nissan has become a global leader in the development of zero emission automotive technology and the Nissan ZEOD RC will allow us to further develop those capabilities using the toughest endurance race in the world as a mobile test bed to test the potential of our planned LM P1 power train,” said Andy Palmer, Executive Vice President and Executive Committee member at Nissan Motor Company Limited.

“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 ZEOD RC program will form part of future innovations for Nissan road cars.

“Nissan is already a global leader in the sale of all-electric cars and we’re eagerly awaiting the opportunity to showcase the lessons learnt with the development of battery technology in the world’s oldest, toughest and most high profile endurance race.

“The ZEOD RC program is designed to develop multiple technologies to evaluate how they could be used for a future LM P1 class return of Nissan at the Le Mans 24 Hour. There are multiple options we are investigating. 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 that we still have under development.

“As no other manufacturer is using electric battery technology in endurance racing today, Nissan is innovating again and this will provide us with significant amounts of data and information to evaluate potential powertrains for future sportscar programs and allow us to continue as the leader in Zero Emissions technology on the road.”

Launched in 2010, the Nissan LEAF has become the world’s best-selling all-electric car. The LEAF won the 2010 Green Car Vision Award, the 2011 European Car of the Year, the 2011 World Car of the Year, and the 2011–2012 Car of the Year Japan.

Nissan launched the Nissan LEAF RC in 2011 – a race car prototype powered by the same 107-hp electric motor that is used in the road car.

While current battery technology does not provide the energy storage capacity to race a solely electric Le Mans prototype, Nissan ZEOD RC designer Ben Bowlby believes the development of the car will be an important step in the “electrification” of the racecars of the future.

“Developing a car like this provides an incredibly challenging test bed for what could be highly-effective options for road cars of the future. Throughout the next twelve months we will be testing multiple drive train options in an extensive test program,” Bowlby said.

“We have many options to consider and test. The test program is part of a longer term goal of developing a system and a set of rules for this type of technology in partnership with the ACO that would be best suited to competing at the highest level of this sport.”

“Nissan is a leader in electric vehicle technology for the road, now we want to take those lessons learnt and utilise that knowledge base in the development of the new race car.

“Our design team on the Nissan ZEOD RC program has concentrated heavily on packaging and aerodynamic efficiency that will not only provide extreme performance but high levels of energy efficiency – the goal for all global automakers.

“A large part of our work in the coming months is to discuss with the ACO future opportunities for the ‘electrification’ of the Le Mans rules in the future and work towards delivering appropriate technology. Garage 56 is a bold move by the ACO to showcase Innovation and allow testing of untried components and systems for future competition use. To this end they are the most forward thinking promoter in motorsport today.”

Nissan will partner with French tire manufacturer Michelin to produce tires for the new prototype. Nissan previously joined forces with Michelin on the Nissan DeltaWing program. The Clermont-Ferrand-based manufacturer has a deep involvement in innovation and also benefits form an enviable knowledge in the development of energy efficient competition and road tires.

The Nissan ZEOD RC will make its testing debut later this summer. Nissan’s assault on the 2013 Le Mans 24 Hour will again target victory in the P2 class with 15 of the 22 entries powered by Nissan. In the opening rounds of the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship, Nissan has dominated, taking victory at Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps.

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Closed cockpit DeltaWing + LEAF electric motor

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"final version" of the ZEOD revealed ahead of this weekend's WEC Six Hours of Fuji.

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Press release...

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Lawsuit by Delta Wing against Nissan. Interesting read.

http://www.racer.com/panoz-led-delta...icle/323046/6/

Notes:

• Nissan did not pay Delta Wing the agreed amont for sponsoring the 2012 car.
• Nissan and Bowlby stole the DW concept for the ZEOD without compensating DW

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Nissan will not only break new ground with the unique electric powerplant aboard its Nissan ZEOD RC at Le Mans this year, but the accompanying internal combustion engine is "set to revolutionize standards of performance and efficiency," the company said in its official debut of the latter in London on Monday.

The Nissan ZEOD RC will become the first entry at Le Mans to complete a lap of the Circuit de la Sarthe under nothing but electric power in June. A single lap of each stint (a fuel “stint” lasts approximately one hour) will be electric powered, then the new Nissan DIG-T R 1.5 liter three-cylinder turbo engine will take over.

The incredibly small engine weighs only 40 kilograms (88 pounds) but produces an astonishing 400 horsepower. The base engine is only 500mm tall x 400mm long x 200mm wide (19.68” x 15.74” x 7.78”). While the engine is technically too heavy to take as carry-on luggage on a plane – it would easily fit inside the luggage guides seen at major airports around the world.

Revving to 7,500rpm, the Nissan DIG-T R produces 380Nm of torque. At a ratio of 10 horsepower per kilogram – the new engine actually has a better power-to-weight ratio than the new engines to be used in Formula 1 this year.

With the entire concept of the Nissan ZEOD RC focusing heavily on downsizing and efficiency, Nissan turned to new lubricants partner Total to help develop the engine. The French lubricants manufacturer has worked closely with Nissan engineers to develop fuel and lubricants to maximize the potential of the engine.

The Nissan ZEOD RC will occupy “Garage 56” at this year's Le Mans 24 Hours, an additional entry reserved by the Automobile Club de l‘Ouest for new and ground-breaking technologies never previously seen at the classic French endurance event. Lessons learned from the development of the revolutionary racecar will also be used in the development of Nissan's planned entry into the LM P1 class of the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2015.

“Our engine team has done a truly remarkable job with the internal combustion engine,” said Darren Cox, Nissan's Global Motorsport Director. “We knew the electric component of the Nissan ZEOD RC was certainly going to turn heads at Le Mans but our combined zero emission on demand electric/petrol powerplant is quite a stunning piece of engineering.

“Nissan will become the first major manufacturer to use a three-cylinder engine in major international motorsport. We're aiming to maintain our position as industry leaders in focusing on downsizing. Lessons learned from the development of the engine will be seen in Nissan road cars of the future.

“Our aim is to set new standards in efficiency in regards to every aspect of the car – power train, aerodynamics and handling. For the power train we have worked closely with the team at Total to not only reduce friction inside the engine, but within all components of the powertrain.

“Friction is the enemy of horsepower and tackling that has been one of the efficiency targets we have concentrated on heavily.”

After extensive dyno testing, the Nissan ZEOD RC hit the track for the first time last week with both the electric and internal combustion engines in place. Both the gasoline and electric power plants run through the same five-speed gearbox that transfers power to the ground via Michelin tires.

“Being chosen by a car manufacturer as a technological partner to achieve a demonstration of innovation, is always a source of pride, especially on this legendary race,” said Philippe Girard, Scientific Delegate for Total. "It drives our researchers to find solutions and get the most out of the technical specifications as well as the fuel economy properties that our TOTAL QUARTZ lubricants range provides to all passengers cars.

The Nissan ZEOD RC will undergo an extensive test program over the next four months prior to it making its race debut at the Le Mans 24 Hours on June 14-15.

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Cool cutaway.

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