Nissan readies the ZEOD RC for next year's Le Mans

OD Newsdesk Updated: June 24, 2013, 06:44 PM IST

Nissan ZEOD RCThe Nissan ZEOD RC is the fastest electric car

Nissan has unveiled the world's fastest electric racing car – the ZEOD RC. The ZEOD RC (Zero Emission On Demand Racing Car) will make its race debut at next year's 24-hour classic. Nissan says that the ZEOD racing car is capable of reaching speeds up to 300 kmph and is the world's fastest electric racing car.

"We are global leaders in the sale of all-electric cars and we're eagerly awaiting the opportunity to showcase the lessons learned with battery technology in the world's oldest, toughest and most high-profile endurance race," said Andy Palmer, Executive Vice President at Nissan Motor Company Limited.

Based on the idea behind DeltaWing that raced at Le Mans last year, it is fuelled by lithium battery technology, which is also used in electric road cars.

"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," said Nissan ZEOD RC designer Ben Bowlby.

Something this fast which is also this efficient definitely needs to be developed further to power ideas for a green future. Nissan says that ideas and lessons learnt from the ZEOD RC will eventually filter down to its road cars.

"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." said Andy Palmer.

While most road-going electric cars aren't perhaps the most exciting, if the future of green technology is at 300 kmph, then there really isn't much to complain about.