Not green coloured race cars, but eco friendly ones. Nissan will bring its LEAF NISMO RC to Le Mans while Honda will campaign its CR-Z hybrid race car. They won’t be challenging Audi and Peugeot for the win though; the eco racers will do their thing in a support event called Le Mans Vers Le Futur or Le Mans of the Future, which is reserved for EVs and hybrids.
The LEAF RC (RC stands for Racing Competition) is a 2011 New York show car that’s fully battery powered. Its full carbon fibre monocoque bodywork contains a battery pack, electric motor and inverter located in a mid-ship position. The 80kW AC synchronous motor generates 107 hp and 280 Nm, good for 0-100 km/h in 6.85 seconds and a top speed of 150 km/h. Nissan says that it can run for 20 minutes under racing conditions.
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Honda’s entry is less green, but more evocative. Developed by Honda Performance Development (HPD), the racing arm of American Honda, it was first seen at last year’s SEMA show in Las Vegas. While still an IMA hybrid, the 1.5L internal combustion engine has been turbocharged to make 200 hp and 237 Nm. It’s paired to a six-speed manual gearbox.
Other expected entries are the Peugeot EX1 (see Nurburgring video here) and the Audi e-tron Spyder.
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so, it will be Le Mans Silent Series… no engine roaring…
thats what i think…
hahaha.. no sound at all.. the most quite racing on the world..
is that equal to Boring??
Proton should be in Le Mans!.. not in F1!!! That is where you develop the engine for the masses!
you have another Proton in Le Mans which is “Proton Competition” and “Felbermayr-Proton” =D
Paul sorry to ask you, please refer to this “Nissan says that it can run for 20 minutes under racing conditions.”..well..what happen after that?..enter the pit and “re-fuel” for 7 hour??..=D could be a world record for longest pit time!!
y need refuel,jst chnge battery pack lorr…if tyre can be chnge,y not the battry pack..sure the battry pack not stndard anymore~
i mean “re-fuel” the battery lor..haha =D
” Nissan says that it can run for 20 minutes under racing conditions.”
wait a minute. correct me if i’m wrong, but does that mean that the Leaf RC will have to pit and charge every 20 mins? i know they’re competing in different category, but still…?
maybe nissan develop a special battery that’s easily removed for electric race cars. When the cars pit, they change the battery to a new one.
That makes sense.
In fact, this is exactly what Renault Nissan has been promoting with road EVs… they call it Quick Drop system http://paultan.org/2009/06/19/renault-5-door-hatch-ev-bound-for-frankfurt/
I think hybrids and EV will become more mainstream when ‘ultracapacitor’ technology becomes economically viable enough to replace heavy chemical batteries used widely right now. Ultracapacitors don’t produce heat thus highly efficient and can handle high duty cycles without major drop in performance. It’s also very significantly smaller and lighter then chemical batteries for the same amount of energy
Downside right now is the high cost and probably doesn’t hold it’s charge well for extended periods. But it can charge up and discharge energy very quickly
YEAH, FINALLY some ‘green’ racing :)…!!!
The CRZ will be quite noisy just like other cars. The LEAF does have some unique noise actually in racing conditions with high motor speeds, just slightly less. I have a few electric cars in GT5 for the PS3 :].
Nissan may pit for a long time , but they have created the bench-mark for
others in this decade. “SHIFT the way you move ”
In a couple years time , they will be ahead while others trails behind ..
Once Pug brings in its potent diesel hybrid4 tech to this new category…..wt combine torque of almost 500nm + nearly 300hp in stock, adv for its frugal diesel…. …in race trim….can imagine they’ll walk away wt these
Say NO to EV =P
why no?
its better wut…EV can help to solve problem with current fuel hike price…only it is not well commercialize yet due to it is still expensive… but technology always concern on cost down… we’ll just have to wait for the technology dev to makes EV cheaper and cheaper.
xlame lg minyak naik harga woo… matila camni
And where do u think Malaysia get’s its power from? EV is not the solution, it transfers the emission from the tailpipe to the power generator. So we may end up short of even more energy as we transfer the volume. Anyone volunteering for their home to be the next Nuclear powerplant, its ok, with less than 600KM north to south the whole Peninsular would be gone if a nuclear disaster happened. We’re not as big as Russia or Japan.
That doesn’t include the hazadous materials involved. Imagine if we scrap 20,000 Hybrids that are currently on the road, where do we store these spent batteries. We do not have high tech battery re-processing plant. Buang aja at the land fill?
I’d go for smaller more efficent engine or dual fuel, hybrids rather than EV. Hybrids are the lesser evil of the EV. So EV in short is not going to solve anything other than pretending to be Green.
Use hybrids then, petrol or diesel of your choice. It will save you a lot of fuel money with the same maintenance cost :].
The feelings is kinda mixed here. Yeah, its a technological advancement put into practice. But seeing that we all grow up to fossil fuel burning roars/screams.. i really can’t imagine how this would turn out. And if i try really hard to imagine, the outcome does give me a chill down me spine. Really, a race with puny roar? Or just a whoosh? I don’t know, doesn’t cut it. Unless it looks something like out of The Tron? now that would be nerdy cool…