Leaf electric racer doubles its power

Nissan has taken the technology honed by its Formula E program and stuffed it into its latest Leaf race car, giving it more than double the power and torque of its predecessor. Looking almost nothing like a standard Leaf, the racing version developed by Nissan’s racing arm, Nismo, is built totally for the track. Two electric motors power all four wheels and deliver a combined 240 kilowatts of power (roughly equivalent to 320 horsepower) and 640 Nm (472 poundfeet) of torque. The Leaf RC reaches 100 km/h from zero in just 3.4 seconds. Nissan says that’s 50 per cent quicker than the previous model, which was introduced in 2011. The Nissan Leaf Nismo RC will officially debut at the annual Nismo festival at Fuji International Speedway on Dec. 2, where it will be driven to the limit by professional racing drivers for fans to watch.