Nissan’s ZEOD RC prototype has completed an all-electric lap at Le Mans

Bet your Nissan Leaf can’t do this! Nissan’s ZEOD RC electric hybrid race car just set a new record. Japanese race car driver Satoshi Motoyama got the ZEOD RC up to 186 mph on the Mulsanne Straight while qualifying for the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race. The prototype electric racer is powered by a 110kW electric motor paired with a 1.5-liter three-cylinder turbo engine making 400 horsepower. While the car allows the driver to switch back and forth between the two power sources, Motoyama hit the record using the car’s electric motor alone. “I drove ZEOD at Le Mans for the first time and instantly we were able to reach our target to run at more than 300km/h with electric power only,” said Motoyama said. “I was so surprised with the speed and power of electricity and it felt great.”

The 24 Hours of Le Mans (check after the break for details on how to watch, for free) hasn’t even started yet and already history has been made. During warmups, Nissan wheeled itsZEOD RC prototype race car around the 8.47-mile Circuit de la Sarthe track running only on battery power, a first. ZEOD stands for “Zero Emissions On Demand” and the car squeezes a 1.5-liter three cylinder engine that produces 400hp plus two electric motors and the regenerative breaking of a Leaf RC into the frame similar to the older DeltaWing prototype racer. Did we mention that it has no rear-view mirrors? Ray Harroun would be appalled. It’s now achieved two of the team’s three goals for Le Mans 2014 — an all-electric lap and hitting 300 km/h (192MPH) running just on the electric motor — and now just needs to record a gas-powered lap at a speed matching the LMP2 cars racing on the course. In the US, the race broadcast will kick off at 8:30AM ET on Fox Sports 1, before switching back and forth on Fox Sports 2 during the 24-hour span. You can stream the entire thing on mobiles via the Fox Sports Go app — if you have cable TV — but if you’re on a PC, the entire thing will be streamed on 24h-lemans.com for free.