Nissan's ZEOD RC prototype racer completes first all-electric lap at Le Mans

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 its ZEOD 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" with the car squeezing a 1.5-liter three cylinder engine that produces 400hp, two electric motors and the regenerative breaking of a Leaf RC into a frame similar to the DeltaWing prototype that raced at Le Mans before. Did we mention that it has no rear-view mirrors? Ray Harroun would be appalled.

Update: Unfortunately the ZEOD RC's time in the actual race was quite brief, as it succumbed to a suspected transmission issue after just 5 laps around the circuit. Nissan plans to take the experience and include it in their LM P1 race car next year, the GT-R LM Nismo.

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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.