Nissan e.dams builds performance ahead of iconic Mexico City Formula E race

February 10, 2022 by Nissan

YOKOHAMA, Japan – Nissan e.dams returns to Mexico City this weekend for Round 3 of the 2021/22 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, where the team scored podium finishes at its last two visits.

The all-electric world championship is set for its sixth appearance in Mexico City. For Season 8, the teams will make a welcome return to the impressive Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, to be greeted by thousands of passionate motorsports fans.

Last time out at this venue in Season 6, Nissan e.dams driver Sébastien Buemi battled hard to take third place in a thrilling race.

Unique in its design, the circuit loops through the famous Foro Sol or 'stadium' section that, on race days, is a vibrant sea of fans, colour and excitement. In Season 7, due to COVID-19 restrictions, the race took place at the Autódromo Miguel E. Abed outside the city of Puebla.

With its abundance of corners, the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez circuit will require drivers to accelerate at full power many times, making energy management a key focus. In the fast sections, Buemi and his new teammate Maximilian Günther will need to make good use of their Nissan Formula E Gen2 race car's extra power - increased by 20 kW to 220 kW in Race Mode and by 15 kW to 250 kW in Attack Mode for this season.

'It's great to be back in Mexico City at the stunning Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, where we enjoyed success in Season 6,' said Tommaso Volpe, general manager Nissan Formula E. 'The track offers both technical challenges and a brilliant atmosphere, featuring a combination of twisty sections and a high-speed corner where car balance is key. As a team, we will need to find the best compromise between speed and energy consumption.

'This is a very demanding track that the drivers love, and the fans, especially those located in the stadium section, are usually rewarded with some exciting overtaking manoeuvres. Everyone should enjoy the race and the team will fight hard to replicate our previous results achieved here. We want to put on a good show for our many Nissan fans in Mexico. We've been selling our all-electric Nissan LEAF here since 2014, and this race is always the perfect way to demonstrate just how exciting EVs are.'

Nissan e.dams co-team principals Grégory and Olivier Driot also commented: 'Nissan e.dams is back in Mexico City and, for any racing team, Mexico has always been linked with thermal issues. Due to the track's high altitude, the air density is lower than on all other circuits, reducing the air-cooling efficiency of the main race car components such as the motor and brakes. However, in these conditions is where a Formula E car highlights its genuine advantage over ICE-powered cars. Thanks to its highly efficient electric motor, the power unit heat is reduced to its minimum and cooling becomes much less of an issue. It's the same for the brakes, as a Formula E car decelerates mainly with the electric motor regenerating energy into the battery instead of heating up the brake discs. Therefore, the cooling challenge is reduced to battery temperature monitoring.'

This season the team will continue to link its presence in Formula E to Nissan's road EVs. Buemi will race once more in his #23 Nissan Ariya, named after the Japanese manufacturer's all-new electric crossover SUV. Günther is racing in the #22 Nissan LEAF, named after the brand's well-known EV first launched in 2010.

Nissan races in this all-electric world championship to bring the excitement and fun of zero-emission electric vehicles to a global audience. As part of its goal to achieve carbon neutrality across its operations and the life cycle of its products by 2050, Nissan intends to electrify all its new vehicles by the early 2030s in key markets. The Japanese automaker aims to bring its expertise in transferring knowledge and technology between the racetrack and road for better electric vehicles for customers.

Driver Quotes

Sébastien Buemi

'This track in Mexico City has suited us quite well in the past. In Season 6 I finished on the podium, and in Season 5 we had great pace too. We have been competitive here in Mexico and I'm really looking forward to racing again on this exciting track. The opening double-header rounds in Diriyah weren't that great for us in terms of results, but we made performance gains over the weekend. I'm hoping we can take learnings from Rounds 1 & 2 and show some good progress here in Mexico.'

Maximilian Günther

'I've been working hard in our simulator, and I'm also really looking forward to going racing again in Mexico at this amazing circuit. It's totally different to Diriyah; it's not a street circuit and let's not forget the stadium area – it's insane! The feeling when you drive through there with the crowd and the atmosphere gives all of us drivers a real lift. Our motivation is sky high to perform well and have a good weekend. We worked well together in my first two races with the team in Diriyah. We weren't in the points, but I feel that we made some good progress in many areas and we want to put on a good performance in Mexico.'

TV details

https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/watch/ways-to-watch

#FANBOOST

Fans of Nissan e.dams can help its drivers access an extra boost of energy during each race by visiting nismo.com to cast their votes. Voting opens three days before the race and closes 6 minutes into the race. Only the top five drivers in the Fanboost Leaderboard can win the extra energy boost, so every vote is important to help Nissan e.dams drivers win Fanboost.

Photo credit: Nissan
posted on conceptcarz.com