Nissan Leaf Nismo

This isn’t the first electric racing car, but Nissan’s Leaf RC (Racing Competition) is the first to be based around a production vehicle. On top of that, it shows how a mass-produced battery-powered sports car might look.

There’s an obvious family resemblance to the Leaf hatch, thanks to the shape of the LED lights front and rear, the pearlescent white paint and blue logos. But its dimensions are dramatically different. The wheelbase is 9.9cm shorter than the regular five-door’s, while the car is 17cm wider and 35cm lower. The overall effect gives it the look of a Le Mans racer.

Under the skin, there’s a carbon-fibre safety cell that encloses the driver, passenger and 192 lithium-ion battery cells. The motor is the same as the one used by the production Leaf, but here it’s even more responsive.

Having a 107bhp motor sitting in a car weighing 938kg won’t exactly excite racing drivers, but the Leaf RC is unique. The lack of a conventional noise is unsettling, but somehow makes it feel quicker than it really is.

Pin-sharp steering and strong grip from the racing tyres mean it’s huge fun to drive fast. Nissan engineers estimate the batteries will last for 20 minutes on track.

This is not a game-changing car in performance terms, but it does hint at what we can expect from an electric race series, or even a sporty production model.

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