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There
once was an ugly Duckling ........... but hey, if it works....
NISSAN
UNVEILS FAST Z.E.V. - 23 JUNE 2013
Launched at the Le Mans 24 Hours race, Nissan's ZEOD RC is the world's fastest electric racing car - capable of reaching speeds of more than 300km/h.
The ZEOD RC (Zero Emission On Demand Racing Car) will make its race debut at next year's Le Mans 24 Hour. Nissan will trial variants of new electric drive train technologies as part of its intended future return to LM P1 competition to challenge for overall victory at the world's most prestigious endurance race.
Run as a Nissan/NISMO full factory international programme with input from Japan, Europe and the US, the Nissan ZEOD RC design team is headed by Ben Bowlby who has been newly appointed as Nissan's Director of Motorsport Innovation and previously worked on the Nissan DeltaWing programme in 2012.
Andy Palmer, Executive Vice President and Executive Committee member at Nissan Motor Company Limited said the Nissan ZEOD RC is a natural progression that follows on from the development of the Nissan LEAF road car and the LEAF RC race car prototype.
"The technologies developed through the ZEOD RC program will form part of future innovations for Nissan road cars. Nissan is already a global leader in the sale of all-electric cars and we're eagerly awaiting the opportunity to showcase the lessons learnt with the development of battery technology in the world's oldest, toughest and most high profile endurance race.
While current battery technology does not provide the energy storage capacity to race a solely electric Le Mans prototype, Ben Bowlby believes the development of the car will be an important step in the "electrification" of the racecars of the future.
"Developing a car like this provides an incredibly challenging test bed for what could be highly effective options for road cars of the future. Throughout the next twelve months we will be testing multiple drive train options in an extensive test program," Bowlby
is quoted as saying.
Nissan’s invitation from the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) to compete in the 2014 Le Mans 24 Hours was announced by
their Chairman and CEO, Carlos Ghosn in Japan in February. The car will compete under the ACO’s ‘Garage 56′ entry – an additional spot on the grid for vehicles that showcase new and innovative technology.
Run as a Nissan / Nismo full factory international program with input from Japan, Europe and the US, the Nissan ZEOD RC design team is headed by Ben Bowlby who has been newly-appointed as Nissan’s Director of Motorsport Innovation and previously worked on the Nissan DeltaWing program in 2012.
While the car will not race until next year’s Le Mans 24 Hours, Nissan today kicked off a unique aspect of the program – race fans getting the chance to unveil the car in the public area of the Circuit de la Sarthe. Nissan intends to draw back the curtain for fans across the globe to provide continued updates via its international partnership with YouTube and its Nismo.TV channel.
“Nissan has become a global leader in the development of zero emission automotive technology and the Nissan ZEOD RC will allow us to further develop those capabilities using the toughest endurance race in the world as a mobile test bed to test the potential of our planned LM P1 power train,” Andy Palmer, Executive Vice President and Executive Committee member at Nissan Motor Company Limited is quoted as saying:
“The Nissan ZEOD RC is a natural progression that follows on from the development of the Nissan Leaf road car and the Leaf RC race car prototype. The technologies developed through the ZEOD RC program will form part of future innovations for Nissan road cars.
MAX
LOAD - Have you ever tried to buy a roof rack for a two door Micra? We did. We went to Halfords
and when that did not give us what we wanted, we tried Toolstation
and various other DIY stores. The problem was that even if you were
prepared to shell out £174, the method of attachment was far from
satisfactory if carrying a heavy load. As you can see we solved this
problem by making our own. Well, that is all but the aluminium
cross-bars, that we finally bought from Lidl
for a whopping £29. We made our own roof mounts that fit into the
channel and bolt through via a rubber gasket. The point here is that
this roof-rack is very sturdy, making this reliable super eco-mini a
very useful tool for a Heritage Trust that is always looking to save a
few bob.
“Nissan is already a global leader in the sale of all-electric cars and we’re eagerly awaiting the opportunity to showcase the lessons learnt with the development of
battery technology in the world’s oldest, toughest and most high profile endurance race.
“The ZEOD RC program is designed to develop multiple technologies to evaluate how they could be used for a future LM P1 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.
“As no other manufacturer is using electric battery technology in endurance racing today, Nissan is innovating again and this will provide us with significant amounts of data and information to evaluate potential powertrains for future sportscar programs and allow us to continue as the leader in Zero Emissions technology on the road.”
The Nissan ZEOD RC will make its testing debut later
in late summer 2013.
DELTA
WING CONCEPT
The triangular DeltaWing, first introduced as a possible IndyCar and then transformed into a superlight, super-efficient endurance-racing sports car, drew howls of laughter when it was introduced. A successful six-hour stint at the 2012 Le Mans 24 silenced critics as the unorthodox auto lapped at speed comparable with the LMP2 prototypes which had nearly twice the power.
The unique racers’ day was cut short when a Toyota prototype sideswiped the DeltaWing, sending it into the wall. Driver Satoshi Motoyama labored for 90 minutes to fix the car, following instructions shouted to him by mechanics forced by the rules to stay behind a safety fence, before the team finally had to admit defeat and retire.
Fans loved the innovative new design, both when it was introduced in America before the Sebring 12-Hour race in March, and in Europe at Le Mans. The crowds at Circuit de la Sarthe were mightily disappointed when the DeltaWing had to admit defeat.
Nissan Takes the Local Route to the Super Bowl
-
December 18, 2007
Automaker to Make Spot Buys on Fox Network Affiliates to Push Murano
NEW YORK - Nissan Motor Co. is quietly mulling a large spot
buy that would allow the automaker to run lots of local ads on various
Fox TV stations and affiliates during the Super Bowl, according to
people close to the situation.
Nissan Murano 2008
A Nissan spokeswoman said she could not "confirm anything about our
plans for the Super Bowl," but one person familiar with the matter
said the automaker is planning to advertise its Murano, a so-called
midsize crossover that pairs the driving experience of a regular car
with some of the features of a sport utility vehicle.
Avoiding the hefty price tag
The strategy is obviously designed to avoid paying the hefty
multimillion-dollar price tag associated with ads that run on network
during the Super Bowl. Ads that run on local TV stations would be
noticeably cheaper than the spots set to run on Fox, and Nissan could
still build an audience reach similar to the Super Bowl by utilizing the
tactic. TV viewers are usually unable to differentiate between an ad
that was placed on Fox's national network and one that was placed during
the minutes normally allocated each hour to the network's affiliates.
Fox has sought anywhere from $2.7 million to more than $3 million for a
30-second ad in the pigskin contest. The event has sold more briskly
than in years past, owing to an expected dearth of original content on
broadcast-TV in early 2008 because of the writers' strike. Advertisers
are also more keen on TV properties that foil use of digital video
recorders. Because it is such a communal, big-audience event, the Super
Bowl -- and the glitzy, pricey ads that interrupt it -- is usually
watched as it happens, not hours or days later. Super Bowl XLII is
slated to air Feb. 3 from Arizona. (See which marketers have already
bought time here.)
There is probably some mischief at work here, too. Marketers often like
to hitch their wagon to the Super Bowl, but make a face when they hear
how much it would cost them.
Big-game hunters
To avoid shelling out millions, some advertisers have used ads to make
allusions to the event in regular commercials that run in the weeks
before the event takes place. Using the phrase "Super Bowl"
typically requires the permission of the National Football League, which
zealously guards against outsiders who might use its trademarks without
permission. Gateway in 2004 ran an ad suggesting the Super Bowl and
other football games were good reasons to buy plasma TVs, but used the
phrase "big game" rather than the words "Super
Bowl."
Others go the spot-buying route -- and not always for financial reasons.
In 2001, for example, Diageo bought up local time during the Super Bowl
from affiliates of CBS, which broadcast the event that year, to
advertise its then-new Smirnoff Ice drink. The strategy helped the
company advertise despite a ban the broadcast networks have long
maintained on ads hawking hard liquor. It also helped Diageo do an
end-run around Anheuser-Busch, which for years has negotiated deals that
make it the exclusive malt-liquor advertiser in the Super Bowl.
Even without the Super Bowl, spot-buying strategies often bear more than
a whiff of impishness. Time Warner's Turner cable unit bought up local
ads during "E.R." on NBC affiliates in 2004 to promote its
showing of reruns of "Without a Trace." At the time, original
episodes of "Without a Trace" were running on CBS in the same
time slot, and TNT's ads reminded NBC viewers they were missing the
program because they were watching the medical drama. Upon discovering
what was going on, NBC ended up pulling TNT's ads.
http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=122692
Brian
Steinberg
Murano
is named after Murano glass, a famous variety of Venetian glass. The
elegantly sculpted glasswork from the islands of Murano near Venice is
regarded as a leader in both cutting-edge design and glassmaking
technologies. Among its other notable qualities, the glasswork is
distinguished by its appealing beauty and its handcrafted warmth. Nissan
Murano strongly reflects the spirit of Murano glass in such aspects as
its advanced styling, thoughtfully executed interior and power
performance suggestive of a sport sedan.
Any
form of electric vehicle is better than petrol or diesel, but an
electric vehicle that can refuel in a few seconds will obviously have
much more customer appeal than an EV that has to wait 30 minutes or
even hours to charge up.
Battery
technology is improving daily. A car with the new generation of
battery cartridge exchange built in and the ability to load its own
cartridge, will encourage energy companies to build service
forecourts.
The
Blueplanet LSR Team would be pleased to advise any
energy company interested in this technology and of course any vehicle
manufacturer who might be considering whether or not to include a
future proof (interchangeable battery/fuel cell cartridge) system into their next generation of
electric road cars.
LINKS
Nissan
unveils le mans prototype worlds fastest electric racing car
http://www.theepochtimes.com/nissan-deltawing-will-race-at-petit-le-mans
http://www.first4auto.com/motorsport/elms-european-le-mans-series/
http://www.lidl.co.uk/
http://www.toolstation.com/
http://www.halfords.com/
http://bluebirdelectric.com/
The
blue bird
legend continues. Inspired by the designs of Reid
Railton and the exploits of Sir Malcolm
Campbell, the Blueplanet BE3 is
potentially the
world's fastest electric car: 350mph + using energy from nature. Featuring built in battery cartridge exchange, charged using renewable
solar energy. Sponsors sought for the 2016 season. Remember the Nissan Bluebird?
Nissan could not use the blue bird logo before, but they could on a
road car, where BMS
Ltd are looking for associates to help develop a Euro EV.
CONTACTS
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and
name Bluebird
and Blue Max are trademarks. The BE2 and BE3 vehicle shape and
configuration are registered designs ®. All other trademarks
are hereby acknowledged. Max Energy Limited is an educational
charity.