Nissan’s entry in the ABB FIA Formula E Championship was shown to the public for the first time in Geneva.
Nissan, the first Japanese manufacturer to enter the ABB FIA Formula E Championship, is unveiling its concept livery for the 2018-19 all-electric racing series season on Tuesday at the Geneva auto show.
The unveiling follows the announcement at last year’s Tokyo Motor Show that Nissan would debut in Formula E’s fifth season.
The livery for Nissan’s Formula E program was designed by the company’s global design team in Japan.
“At first glance, the season five Formula E car looked to our design team like an EV-powered supersonic bird in flight,” said Alfonso Albaisa, senior vice president of global design at Nissan. “This initial reaction from the team started us on a path that captured a sense of a form breaking free of resistance and gravity. Formula E racers are virtually silent, with explosive speed bursts. Thus, naturally, we turned to Doppler when designing the livery. The combination of the sonic pulse of the Doppler effect and the released power of a sonic boom inspired our celebration of EV Racing.”
Season five of the Formula E schedule will be the first where there will not be midrace car swaps. One car will race the complete race distance.
“Nissan is proud to be an innovator in electric vehicles on the road, with the Nissan Leaf completing more than 4 billion zero-emission kilometers around the world,” said Jose Munoz, Nissan’s chief performance officer. “Now, we want to bring that EV expertise to motorsports.”
Although the Nissan Formula E car livery was revealed for the first time today, work has been underway for many months to develop the all-new technical package as Nissan prepares for its debut.
“Nissan is bringing a lot to the table with our expertise in EV technology for the road and bringing it to the race track, said Nissan’s global motorsport director, Michael Carcamo. “The level of competition in the Formula E championship is on the rise, and we’re eagerly awaiting the unique engineering challenge ahead. We’re entering the championship on a level playing field this year, with every manufacturer competing with a brand-new car, battery and powertrain combination from season five.”
The season five schedule of the Formula E championship is expected to include Hong Kong, Berlin, Zurich, Rome and New York.
“The strength of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship continues to grow and attract the world’s leading car
manufacturers,” said FIA president Jean Todt. “With Nissan, we will see a Japanese marque in this exciting new motor sport competition for the first time. With so much electric vehicle development happening in Japan, this is an important step for Formula E, and one which I hope continues to broaden the reach of the electric racing revolution.”
[“Source-autoweek”]