The Nissan Electric ZEOD RC Racer is the Deltawing Evolved

NissanNissanJapan, 1932 > present159 models
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has revealed its ZEOD RC, which stands for Zero Emission On Demand Racing Car, that will take the experimental Garage 56 spot in the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans. The design comes from Ben Bowlby, the man behind the Deltawing, and in many ways the ZEOD RC is a revolutionary rethink of the DeltawingNissan DeltaWingJapan, 2012 > present19 photos
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. Like Bowlby’s previous racecar, the ZEOD RC is being specified against LMP2 cars. It also shares a general shape with the Deltawing.

The differences between the Deltawing and the ZEOD RC are massive. This project is an entirely Nissan-sponsored effort. Bowlby has been hired as Nissan's Director of Motorsport Innovation and is leading the program. With the Deltawing, Nissan only came on at the last moment to provide the engine and racing support. This time it has teams in Japan, the United States and Europe providing support to build and test the car.

The car is also a test bed for electric drivetrain components that are being assessed for a possible LMP1 entry in the future.

In terms of what will power the car during the race, even Nissan does not appear entirely sure yet.

"The ZEOD RC program is designed to develop multiple technologies to evaluate how they could be used for a future LMP1 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 Nissan head of global product planning Andy Palmer.

From this statement it appears that Nissan is giving itself some room to make the car either pure electric or a series hybrid depending on how the technology works at the track.

Throughout the next twelve months we will be testing multiple drive train options in an extensive test program," said Bowlby.

Nissan says that the ZEOD RC’s competition debut will not be until Le Mans next year. Michelin will be supplying its tires.