Nissan Runs FCV Vehicle at Nurburgring - July 31st, 2008
You may know that when car-makers want to set records and get a reputation for fast performance they go to the Nurburgring Nordschleife in Germany. Nissan recently ran its X-Trail fuel cell vehicle there, the first FCV to record a lap on the famous track. The course was wet, but the 1.3 million euro prototype ran well on standard street tires and posted a time of 11:58 minutes on the 208 kilometer course.
Frank Eickhold, a member of the Nissan 24 Hours Nurburgring race team, drove the vehicle and said he was surprised at the comfort level of the car. Had the course not been wet, Eickhold said he could have gotten better momentum off the curves and that would have shaved at least 40 seconds off the final time.
The X-Trail FCV seats five and runs with near complete silence while producing no emissions. It’s been undergoing real-world trials in both California and Japan since 2006 and has a recorded top speed of 150 km/h with a range of 500 km. The maximum power from the electric motors is 90kW with torque at 280Nm. It uses compact lithium-ion batteries with thin laminated cells designed by Nissan.
Certainly the run at the Nurburgring is a significant proof of the vehicle’s capabilities. By the time Nissan hopes to put it in production in 2015 they hope to have lowered production costs, which are currently steep due to the precious metals, principally platinum, used in the catalyst. Production of the vehicle is part of the Nissan Green Program 2010 aimed at CO2 reduction around the world.
Posted on July 31st, 2008 by Shorty
Filed under: general |
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