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Nissan ZEOD RC finds nothing but trouble at 2014 Le Mans

Audi came away a big winner at this year's Le Mans competition, but Nissan has at least one thing to celebrate. The Pyrrhic victory apparently presages Nissan giving up on the gas-electric race car for Le Mans 2015. Before the race this weekend, the prototype ZEOD RC hybrid race car was doing quite well. In fact, given the way things turned out, Nissan's keen to mention that team engineers managed to get the car to complete a lap on electric power and hit a target speed of 300 kilometers per hour (186 miles per hour) on the Mulsanne Straight during testing. ZEOD RC stands for Zero Emission On Demand Racing Car. "The race was obviously very disappointing" – Wolfgang Reip Things didn't go so well once the real race started. The problem for the Deltawing-esque prototype – which is powered by a 1.5-liter gas ending putting out 400 horsepower and a pair of 110-kW electric motors – was that something broke in the transmission after just 23 minutes and five laps. Driver Wolfgang Reip put his best spin on the hybrid's collapse: "The race was obviously very disappointing but having got a taste of Le Mans now, I can't wait to get back." If Reip does return with Nissan, it will likely be in a more traditional Le Mons racer. The ZEOD RC was part of the LM P2 class, but Nissan says that, "For Le Mans 2015, Nissan will return to the LM P1 class." You can watch the full warm-up electric lap in a video below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Nissan ZEOD RC heroic electric lap followed by heartbreak Amazing morning warm-up result after all-nighter by crew "New tech" car halted by "old tech" issue Nissan breaks new ground in electric vehicles LE MANS, France – Nissan's assault on the Le Mans 24 Hours may have ended early, but the revolutionary Nissan ZEOD RC electric prototype still leaves Le Mans having reached its historic goals of hitting 300 km/h on the Mulsanne Straight and recording a complete lap of Le Mans on electric power only. The unique prototype – which features both internal combustion and electric power sources – reached its first target during Thursday night qualifying when Satoshi Motoyama exceeded 300 km/h before the first chicane on the Mulsanne Straight. Nissan's other key goal was to complete an entire 8.5-mile lap of Le Mans on pure electric power. GT Academy winner Wolfgang Reip was at the wheel when the team achieved this goal during the morning warm-up.

Nissan commits to adding 'iconic' design after Cube killed off

The Nissan Cube is on its way out here in the US and Canada. In a way, that's too bad, simply because the Cube's styling was nothing if not distinctive - much like the company's own Juke. However, the flame for uniquely styled models is indeed still burning over at Nissan.
We might never see an exact replacement for the Cube in the brand's lineup, but product planning boss Andy Palmer says that its retirement leaves a spot open in the Nissan lineup for something else. "To be clear, we will morph this space in our portfolio into something iconic," said Palmer to Automotive News. Unfortunately, he wouldn't hint at what that could mean.
However, his lack of suggestions makes it fun to speculate about what oddity could replace the Cube, especially since two of Nissan's more recent quirky concepts might have problems hitting the road. The Bladeglider is mired in Nissan and Deltawing Technologies' ongoing patent lawsuit. Alternatively, the retro-inspired IDx might be too expensive to build profitably. Still, this is the company that created both the (nearly dead) Murano CrossCabriolet and the very successful Juke; it can probably come up with something else delightfully weird.

Nissan Leaf battery cells put through torture test, live to charge again

One minor chink in the armor of the Tesla Model S is that a small number have caught fire, once their battery packs were penetrated. Nissan Leaf drivers, however, might just be able to weather such an event without an ensuing CarBQ. Our evidence for such a claim? A video that has surfaced of cells from a Leaf pack undergoing a battery of torture tests (pun somewhat-ashamedly intended). Shared by folks at the Hybrid Auto Center in Las Vegas – who offer for sale, among other things, used Leaf lithium battery modules – the footage shows salvaged cells being brutally assaulted with a screwdriver, and later, a propane torch. Granted, these tests are not the same thing as flinging a piece of metal into a working pack at 70 miles per hour, but they do claim to show that a puncture does not always equal a fire. Oh, and don't try this at home. When pierced through by the flat head tool, there is no explosion or eruption of flame. Instead, a rather modest wisp of smoke shyly emerges as the electrolyte next to the shorted area of the fully-charged foil pouch reacts with the influx of oxygen. Again and again, the blade descends, until the cell is riddled with holes. No fire. Amazingly, when connected with a voltmeter afterward there are still plenty of signs of life, and when it is charged and discharged (off-camera), it reportedly suffers only a slight loss of charge capacity. The video goes on to show another cell attacked with open flame with similar results. While the demonstration is, perhaps, somewhat crude, the message it sends is loud and clear: lithium batteries can be safe and rather robust, despite some freak accidents. Scroll below to watch the short presentation for yourself. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.