Nissan to Race All-Electric at Le Mans in 2014

[Drivesolo]

I hope someone has pointed out that it appears that they will be using hydrogen fuel cell technology, so there may not even be a propulsion battery in the car. Their biggest worry will be the storing of sufficient hydrogen. This makes for an interesting experiment, but if Mr. Ghosn was worried about the electric charging infrastructure, he'll have a greater worry about a hydrogen infrastructure.

will be filled by the GreenGT hydrogen fuel cell prototype this year.

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D'oh!!!

That actually makes a lot more sense than a BEV. Energy density issue solved. The pits are setup for that type of fuel delivery far better than battery swapping.

Oh well... :|

 

[Electric4Me]

I hope someone has pointed out that it appears that they will be using hydrogen fuel cell technology, so there may not even be a propulsion battery in the car. Their biggest worry will be the storing of sufficient hydrogen. This makes for an interesting experiment, but if Mr. Ghosn was worried about the electric charging infrastructure, he'll have a greater worry about a hydrogen infrastructure.

will be filled by the GreenGT hydrogen fuel cell prototype this year.

Read more: http://www.autoweek.com/article/20130226/alms/130229850#ixzz2M8vQsU2P" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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It's GreenGT that's running the fuel cell, not Nissan (as far as the press releases have said). The stories claim "all electric" for Nissan.

 

[AP1]

From GreenCar Reports: "We can't be sure it's a full battery-electric vehicle--the company's press release doesn't state that exactly. However, with hybrid vehicles already fielded by Audi and Toyota, a plug-in vehicle is the next logical step for electric technology on the circuit." The Hydrogen Fuel Cell car is for 2013, not 2014.

 

[Drivesolo]

This video makes me (want to) believe that Nissan is planning on fielding a BEV, but the audio coming though also hints on the sound of an ICE. Thoughts?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn9ZZ-iT6wc[/youtube]

Obviously the J1772 at the end is just for show since most people still don't know what it is.

 

[Electric4Me]

This video makes me (want to) believe that Nissan is planning on fielding a BEV, but the audio coming though also hints on the sound of an ICE. Thoughts?

Obviously the J1772 at the end is just for show since most people still don't know what it is.

I don't hear any ICE in there! Seems like an awesome development to me!

 

[Drivesolo]

OMG!!! !! I'm nearly in disbelief. They're really going to do it... ; an EV DeltaWing!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rd2Xbm8HdNs[/youtube]

A 300kph EV, Nice!

 

[Drivesolo]

Nissan's 2014 Le Mans Garage 56 Reveal

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtTV-O0GXnQ[/youtube]

 

[ttweed]

Very cool! Wonder how it will work out...

 

[TRONZ]

OMG!!! !! I'm nearly in disbelief. They're really going to do it... ; an EV DeltaWing!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rd2Xbm8HdNs[/youtube]

A 300kph EV, Nice!

Yes! And a couple of jewels I noticed was a lot of very familiar character lines from the EsFlow and that high performance perception is now now central to Nissans EV market strategy. Gives me extremely high hopes for "something very special" being shown at Tokyo this year.

ZEOD could be EREV but if all traction power/performance comes from the EV motors then Nissans point is made.

 

[Drivesolo]

At the reveal on Nismo.tv they gave the specs of ~700kg(~1540lbs) (see video @ 5:40), capable of 300kph(186mph) and claim it will use the batts of a Nissan Leaf. The DeltaWing platform will help a lot in terms of improvements in areo efficiency and weight savings and the 2014 car could be significantly better than the 2012 car. But even then, I can't see how is can be competitive w/ the current Leaf batts? Maybe like the EVs in Isle of Man, Nissan isn't looking to be challenge the existing field, they just want to be in it to finish and claim they did it.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtTV-O0GXnQ[/youtube]

 

[veramis]

If regulations allow it, they could speed swap the battery. I sure hope Nissan doesn't try to use the same 2013 Leaf battery. It might be good publicity but the battery chemistry isn't nearly as good as some more expensive chemistries. If they use the same battery, I'm sure they could make a great car with the deltawing shape, but if they use the best batteries they can get I think they could get ridiculous range and power.

Nissan Leaf Nismo with same 24kwh battery and 107hp 207 torque powertrain vs two tesla roadsters with much more powerful powertrain, the leaf actually got in second place .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eA77wRNBjek" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[TRONZ]

Well they have one year to figure it out.

Interestingly, this rebirth of the Delta is clearly to make a performance point about electric drive motors and probably much less about batteries. This is very smart on Nissans part and plays to the strengths and reliability of motors in the toughest endurance race known. ZEOD's mission seems aimed directly at destroying the publics mis-perception that electric motors (EV's) are slow. I think after producing a very logical and practical car like the LEAF, Nissan has realized the pragmatic approach to EV adoption could use a dose of blistering speed. This was actually Elon's approach originally but the Roadster was too obscure for the general public to know about, or still know about. However, lots of performance people see Le Mans and just about everyone knows its an important race. Even if ZEOD only does 2 laps at a time but seen (and filmed) blowing past LMP2 class cars UNDER ELECTRIC POWER, it will be a huge coup against EV mis-perceptions.

So I will wager that ZEOD will be some sort of very pure EREV with only large electric motors for drive power. A very worthy Garage 56 entry for sure.

 

[Drivesolo]

So I will wager that ZEOD will be some sort of very pure EREV with only large electric motors for drive power. A very worthy Garage 56 entry for sure.

IDK... They seemed pretty clear in their reveal video that it will be (at least at this time) a pure EV. Seems like if they made this big statement w/ all this fanfare, to back out and go EREV would be more damaging than just backing out of the 2014 race as a result of < *** put some fabricated reason here ***>.

I agree w/ you that all they need to do is run a couple of laps and make the claim of first EV at Le Mans. I guess they are aiming for a finish (even if they end up 20+ laps down from the 2nd to last car of the whole field), that would be a significant feather in Nissan's cap for them to wear and parade around.

Here's a long shot thought: They did say that they would be using the batts from a Nissan Leaf but they did not specify what year. Maybe they will be prototyping a freakishly high energy density batt intended for the 2015 or beyond Leaf. W/ a battery swap method that can happen in a faction of the time as pit refueling. Hmmm... they suprised me by bring back the DeltaWing, I'd love to be suprised like that again.

 

[Electric4Me]

What I'm stuck on is the Zero Emissions On Demand. That to me implies Not full time EV...

On a sad note, I heard on the radio a minute ago that Danish driver died from a crash in his Aston Martin? Didn't catch his name.

 

[DaveEV]

What I'm stuck on is the Zero Emissions On Demand. That to me implies Not full time EV...

Yeah, I caught that to - it seems that this is very likely to be some sort of hybrid...

 

[TRONZ]

Nissan's 2014 Le Mans Garage 56 Reveal

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtTV-O0GXnQ[/youtube]

Listen carefully at 14:45. The description is regarding Nissan PureDrive (ICE) and LEAF drivetrains. The speaker then says it is the task of their engineers to now figure out how to combine them into a single high performance drivetrain.

 

[Electric4Me]

Listen carefully at 14:45. The description is regarding Nissan PureDrive (ICE) and LEAF drivetrains. The speaker then says it is the task of their engineers to now figure out how to combine them into a single high performance drivetrain.

This BBC article specifically comments on the On Demand:

Last week Nissan unveiled the Zeod RC (Zero Emission On Demand Racing Car), which can switch between electric and petrol power.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23051252