ZEOD RC sets records, but fails overall in Le Mans 24 Hours

After just 23 laps, the Nissan ZEOD RC was pulled from the race at Le Mans and garaged, dashing any hopes of a historic finish. Despite that, though, those twenty-three laps were legendary thanks to three world records set by the car during it's short run at Le Mans.

Nissan says that despite the failure to finish, the ZEOD RC test case was clearly a success and the technology will move forward. They will re-enter the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2015 with the car to continue its progress.

Meanwhile, the event that pulled the car from the race after just a few laps was quite mundane. A transmission failure, causing the gearbox to stop shifting correctly, ended the ZEOD's run. Yep, a simple mechanical failure having little to do with the advanced electrical and other technologies involved in the car's design. "How lame is that?" was the response heard from many upon release of the news.

The ZEOD RC did manage to meet three key goals and set records in the process, though. First, the car did complete its all-electric lap as promised and did so with a lot of flair (see below). It also completed a 300km/h run on the Mulsanne Straight, as we reported earlier. It also was the first car ever to enter the race without physical mirrors, which we talked about yesterday.

Next year, we will expect to see more awesomeness from this unique Garage 56 entry.