We’ve restricted this catch up with Nissan’s Global Head of Motorsport, Darren Cox to some follow-up on Friday’s announcement of the first ‘reveal’ of their ‘ZEOD RC’ Garage 56 project for the 2014 Le Mans 24 Hours, part of the Fans First initiative that aims to bring access to parts of the motorsport experience that the ‘ordinary’ fans seldom get.
Whilst the car itself was revealed first to the public, the media assembled in the Nissan NISMO lounge in the paddock with a live link to John Hindhaugh in the Village, where a pair of fans were given the privilege of unveiling the car.
Post launch, and after contributions from a number of significant figures involved in the project, I took the opportunity to talk to Darren about the background to the project, and the future shape of Nissan’s Le Mans ambitions:
“There are a huge number of questions still to be answered on every aspect of this programme, and therefore on the programmes that will follow.
“For now the commitment is clear. We will be here in 2014 with a Garage 56 car and it will be the world’s fastest electric racing car. It is all about relevance and innovation, and that’s not just a soundbite. Nissan has made a commitment to electric cars for the road, we have sold 65,000 Leafs and, if you look where we are in relation to Toyota’s Prius programme that’s around 30% ahead of their reach at the same point in the programme. We made a decision, one that was criticised by many in the industry, to focus on EV and it is starting to pay off with a lot of people in the industry starting to take notice.
”That basic technology will be involved in our new car but exactly how the new car will be powered and packaged is still to be determined. We’ll be evaluating and testing a very large number of options and combinations.
“There will be a gasoline powered powerplant involved here in some regard, though whether or not that is used with a direct link to the wheels or as a generator is yet to be determined. What I can say though is that the petrol powerplant will be VERY radical, something that has never been seen before.
The car’s name really explains the concept – ZEOD stands for Zero Emissions On Demand – Whether that means the car will be able to complete multiple laps on EV power remains to be seen and established.”
Ben Bowlby has just told us that a key objective for the car is for it to be capable of 300 km/h – Is this a ‘one lap wonder’?
“Absolutely not – We’re looking to finish! No electrically powered car has done that and it’s a massive challenge.”
We can’t avoid the question of LMP1 – What is the current status of that for Nissan? Is it definitely in the plan?
“Absolutely, we want to be in LMP1 as soon as possible. In fact it is the only reason we are doing this. We’re talking to the ACO about our programme and they are very keen to have a powertrain like the one we are developing in LMP1.”
And can that be with a narrow track car?
“No, the chassis rules are clear and rigid, we’ll be using the 2014 car though to prove and develop the powertrain concept.
So when can we expect the car to run for the first time?
“We will run the car, on pure EV power, in the fourth quarter of this year, and we’ll do it in public view via NISMO TV.
“Before that we have to finalise some pretty important choices, and we have to build the pits for it too which currently don’t exist.
“Beyond that there is a huge challenge, to get such a new and cutting edge vehicle to complete a 24 Hour race.
The ‘competition’ debut for the car will be the 2014 Le Mans Test Day and after the 24 hours you’ll see the tech race in other events, yet to be announced and not necessarily in the WEC.
The car unveiled this morning looks visually very similar to your last Garage 56 effort the Nissan DeltaWing, are the DeltaWing project involved in any way?
“No, the car unveiled today is an indicative concept, it is built on a bespoke tub, constructed by RML and overseen by Ben Bowlby who is now the new Nissan Director of motorsport innovation.
“The car is entirely different from the Deltawing but it is fair to say that can’t unlearn what you have been taught.
“With the direction we have taken, lightness and low drag are very important, efficiency is everything and it is all about energy management.
You’ve mentioned that this is designed to be “the world’s fastest electric racing car”
There’s at least one other outfit looking to break an electrically powered Land Speed Record – Are you interested in making that a separate competition.
“We’ve been to see Paul (Drayson) and his team and what they are doing is very impressive indeed.
“They aren’t the only ones though and Paul described it beautifully, with his project, the new FIA Formula E and now Nissan’s announcement it is rally just like the Space race – We all know what we want to achieve and now it’s just a question of who gets there first.
“Another thing that’s an important ‘driver’ is that we really must be different from Audi, Porsche and Toyota if we are going to do this. Innovation, for me, is what Nissan is all about – it’s part of the company’s DNA. Our racing efforts should aim to help that innovation to develop, and to deliver a message to our customers and, I hope, to potential customers.”
GG
