garygid said:
Under race conditions, a pit stop battery pack swap might take ... perhaps 12 to 15 seconds?
If the stock battery yields
50 miles at "highway speeds", how many miles would it last in pedal-to-the-metal usage? An amateur or semi-pro race probably doesn't need to be more than 30 miles or so to be interesting; that'd be about 13 laps of Laguna Seca.
garygid said:
Support, unlock, and Drop, then slide back as the new pack slides in from the front, then raise, lock, and retract the lift. Perhaps the standard LEAF battery pack (from the QC time), and the wider track lets the battery slide back, between the rear wheels.
Yeah, since the "slide out" part can't be avoided, forego the "lift" part altogether and just "plug" the battery pack in, the way a drawer runs on slides, and lock it in place with a cammed lock. It might be safer between the rear wheels, too. Statistics will tell which end of a race car is more likely to get crunched in a... crunch and therefore which end is safer. It'll also depend on the drive configuration: whether the car will be FWD or RWD, and where they put the motor.
Herm said:
Very nice looking, it does have some potential as a production car.. minus all the racing bits and plus most of the missing weight. The stock Nissan motor cant turn any faster, unless they change the gearing or increase the voltage.
That's correct: the service manual lists the motor as having a max rpm of 10,390.
Herm said:
I wonder if it has a space frame underneath the skin or a standard Leaf chassis?
I'm guessing it has as much in common with an OEM LEAF as Jeff Gordon's Chevy Impala has with a real Chevy Impala. But, that's just a guess.
Herm said:
A race of Nismos would be very tight [...]
Yeah, an one-make amateur or semi-pro NISMO LEAF racing series would contribute to making the EV a more mainstream car and increasing its adoption.
Herm said:
The course design could make even a 92mph top speed interesting.
I think the NISMO LEAF seems plenty capable as it is. Racing is not just about horsepower or torque, or even raw top speed. Some of the quickest and fastest entries in autocrosses are 25-year old VWs making 100 bhp dripping wet. The original Lotus Elise made 118 bhp. The "classic" Mini Cooper S, one of which won the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally outright, beating a Porsche and a Saab, made 55 bhp tops.
Racing is about getting from A to B in the shortest amount of time. What is required depends on the course's configuration, condition, limit of rules, etc. It's entirely possible to have a reasonable EV racing series that is spectator friendly. Heck, if someone can add such a race as a supporting race to a mainstream event such as F1, the way electric racers have their own class at the Isle of Man TT, that would be dynamite.
