During last night’s qualifying session, the Nissan ZEOD RC #0, driven by Satoshi Motoyama, achieved a significant milestone for hybrid technology at Le Mans. The revolutionary racecar recorded the highest ever speed by an electric vehicle at Le Mans when Motoyama touched just over 300km/h (almost 190 mph) on the Mulsanne Straight.
Motoyama achieved the speed on his ‘electric run’, ticking off one the key goals of the ZEOD RC programme – to achieve a speed of more than 300km/h using only electric power. The unique Nissan sportscar features a dual electric/internal combustion engine powertrain that includes a pair of 110kW electric motors alongside one of the smallest conventional petrol engines ever seen at La Sarthe. The compact 1.5 litre three-cylinder turbocharged unit weighs in at a remarkably light 40 kg yet generates around 400 horsepower. It’s small enough to be picked up and carried by a single mechanic, and would probably fit into the maximum luggage dimensions of even Ryanair’s demanding cabin-baggage requirements.
When out on track, the ZEOD (zero emissions on demand) driver can switch back and forth between the two power sources. Motoyama achieved the target on his first run in the car after he missed out on driving on Wednesday night, when a gearbox issue curtailed the car’s running.
“I drove ZEOD at Le Mans for the first time and instantly we were able to reach our target to run at more than 300km/h with electric power only,” Motoyama said. “I was so surprised with the speed and power of electricity and it felt great. In yesterday’s (Wednesday) session we had some trouble with the gearbox in the first session then we had a heap of red flag periods and I didn’t get the chance to get into the car.”
The Nissan team, managed by Phil Barker, later released details of the car’s on-board telemetry data that clearly shows the car’s combustion engine at idle during the record-breaking lap, with zero revs while the car topped out at more than 300km/h. For the sake of interest and comparison, the recently established land speed record for a sub-999kg electric vehicle, set by the Drayson B12 69/EV, is 328.6km/h (204.185 mph).
Motoyama shares the car with GT Academy winners Lucas Ordóñez and Wolfgang Reip. All three drove multiple stints on Thursday, and achieved their mandatory five night laps.
The team’s next target is to complete an entire lap at Le Mans under race conditions using nothing but electric power.
MP
