Nissan returning to LeMans w/a Electric Nismo!
 

Just announced:
Nissan announces electric entry for 24 Hours of Le Mans | Fox News

nice atleast this will save on gas :icon17:

Yaaaa...... Actually... No "yay"... Just no...

I'm quite excited. Even if it's just the Nismo Leaf, I will be watching with interest!

Honestly I'm hoping this electric fad passes by. I hope it's a big failure.

I don't really give a crap about what propels the cars, as long as it's widely available to the public for a reasonable cost and stands on its own merits as a viable alternative to internal combustion. That reality may still yet happen. But it may never.

According to sales figures electric cars in this country are a big failure. :roflpuke2:

Nissan continues to misunderstand motorsports marketing.

Lets throw our money away they said.. It will be fine they said..

They should fire their motorsports marketing division and hire someone who knows what the hell they are doing. (My Resume is here)

Lets see what they have spent money on the last two years.

Delta Wing - Major failure for an engine company. It was about the design of the car and everyone knew Nissan had nothing to do with it.
Australian Super car V8 Altima - Really? This is nothing like a car you sell and even if I really want to own one I can't get it or anything like it from your product line.
Hydrogen/Electric Le-mans Leaf - Again, I can't buy it. Its a huge budget and Its not going for an overall victory. Your not going to sell more electrics because of it. Just look at the reaction from this board. Also, the vast majority of people who buy electrics don't watch motor racing.

To be effective with motorsports marketing you have to pander to the base and that means if your running a lower class build off of a car you can buy (best if a sports model). Then make it extremely competitive through both design and massaging the sanctioning body though sponsorship. If your going to run something that isn't based on the street car you have to do it at the highest level and I think 2014 would be a perfect year for Nissan to get involved in prototype racing with Grand-Am/ALMS merger. The problem is they are already way behind in terms of engine development but they could do it if they wanted. I mean hell they still have constructor rights in the series from infinity motors of years past so they could get involved and get out their engine technology much like Ford is doing with Roush/Yates with the Eco-Boost.

electric cars are really going to be the future, for now its all hybrid...
just look at the super cars coming out with it and the extra power that is delivered....
I think it will be interesting for Nissan on that end and its great that 2 times in 3 years they have taken part in an garage 56 at lemans

And Nissan continues to flail in the wind.

how many same threads can we see game.

I'll guess five. :tiphat:

Amen and hallelujah.. Preach on Brother. lol :iagree:

I don't think it is going to be a fad, but I think companies like Toyota & Nissan are just making a quick buck. Better options are coming out of F1 & other racing series (Porsche).

I don't either. But I think that crap should stay in leaf's, electric Sentra's and altima's etc. Battery packed sports cars... Boooorrrrring!!!

:icon18::tup:

IMO, people really underestimate the potential in electric engines. Being able to harness 100% of torque from 0 rpm is a pretty impressive feat.

While we have a ways to go, I feel that electric engines coupled with inductive recharging will be the future for the typical commuter. I do hope, though, that the market continues to embrace old fossil-fuel vehicles, even if the fuel for them may be very expensive.

In the whole history of electric cars they have NEVER been able to beat 100 miles when the driver actually drives the electric car normally.

... Um... Can you say Tesla? My aunt has a Tesla S (performance 85kWh), and she says she confidently drives 250 miles before feeling like she needs to charge it... And she isn't exactly a slow driver



Honestly though, the issue is charge time and battery life... I think the next frontier is Hydrogen... They just need an economic way of separating H2 from O

How many "normal" people will put out over $100,000 for an electric car as their DD?

Actually a good bit, remember a lot of people spend that much or more a Mercedes or BMW or Porsche daily driver.
I agree the charge time is a huge issues, but for racing that is an easy fix. You have battery packs ready to go & are able to hot swap them out during pit stops.

booooooooorrrrrrriiiinnnnnnnngggggggggg!!!!!

Seriously Nissan?!?! :gtfo2:

Where's your exhaust sound?
Where's the shifter?
Where's that torquey feel from changing gears?
where's the handbrake to drift into a corner.
Wheres the fun in modding it outside of buying a deluxe battery pack?
Where's the soul of the car?
wheres the exhaust port? Car has no balls. Just going fast don't mean shyt. Otherwise we'd all be owning FWd monte carlo SS's and Altima 3.5 coupes. Those are in the same speed range as our Z's.

Electric= Booooooorrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiinnnnnngggg!!!!

The irony is people who complain about CVT also praise electric cars. Electric is like CVT on crack.

It's true that electric cars, at this point in time, are "boring" compared to vehicles with more mechanical bits that people can play with, hence my comment about electric cars being perfect for commuters.

I don't feel that electric technology as it exists right this very second does justice to the prospective advantages the technology has to offer.

As battery weight and size comes down, efficiency goes up, and charging times are reduced, the pluses and minuses of staying with a fossil fuel vehicle versus a hybrid or pure electric will become more even. Right now, I wouldn't consider buying anything other than a petrol-powered sports car.

However, the future is in battery-powered tech. That's just the reality of the situation, and I'm excited to see all the advances that will come out over the next few decades.

What will probably happen is a recording of the exhaust note will play when you hit the gas peddle.

I think that's what they were doing in that movie, The Dilemma. That will become reality soon if electric keeps moving forward. :shakes head:

Sure isn't the majority of cars seen on the road, and I'm sure that aren't many of those people buying high end cars would wait the time required to charge a Tesla on a trip.

I've only ever seen one Tesla on the road (well, parking lot).

Wasn't bad looking, but you could have so much better for the money, IMO. And at 245m/charge it's not that impressive (the Roadster).

Volkswagen back in 2007 were working on this project for future electric vehicles. Funny thing. I haven't seeen and Elec vw yet. lol

Well of course not, many factors. Tesla does not have the facilities to produce them fast enough, and it is not mainstream. If I had the money and needed a luxury daily, I would honestly consider it. Remember for many of these people they do not drive more than what is in their home city. If they travel they fly, so needing a car that can go from NY to LA with minimal stops is not on their mind.

True, and East coast cities are more compact. You can walk to most everything you need, if not take the tube.

Here in Phoenix (and I'm sure in Texas too) everything is so spread out. It would take me an hour or two just to get to anywhere other than a gas station on foot, and we have no trains... at least that come to my side of town.

Still, I'm against electric and unfun (new word) cars! :stirthepot:

Once they get the charging/capacity situation sorted (not a trivial problem...) electric cars will be fantastic.

Peak torque available at 1 RPM? Yes please.

While instant torque would be awesome, electric technology just isn't made for the US in it's current form unless you're in one of the largest of cities. IMHO The only way electric vehicles would ever be viable outside of the big cities is if the range was 2-300 mi. and a full charge could be had in 1 hr or less.

Why? the only aspect holding it back is electric energy storage. Electric motors are far more powerful and efficient then gasoline. Once we figure out how to efficiently store the energy gasoline motors will be stone age tech similar to a steam train vs a diesel train and cars will perform that much better.

:iagree:

Because, a car isn't a car when it's electric. You're taking away what most enthusiasts (or at least me) enjoy - the sounds, the exhaust note.

The electric motor whine just doesn't do it for me.



Granted, they care more about the majority rather than the enthusiasts, as that's where they're going to make their money.

I understand the sound isn't as pleasing I agree 100%. I'm telling you however there will still be something for the enthusiast. Once they get the battery system sorted electric cars actually have the potential to vastly out perform gasoline powered cars. Electric motors produce more torque, more power, better torque curve and weigh less. The issue comes with efficiently storing the energy however which is a huge technical hurdle.

Guess we could go back to putting cards in our spokes on the electric cars for sound... I have a ton of old baseball cards in my closet. :icon17:

Haha. Could always attach a loud speaker and have it blare engine sounds :P you could change from a v-8 tone to a v-12 tone with the push of a button :ughdance:

For the last 100 years.