Ground-Breaking Nissan BladeGlider Reinvents The Sports Car

Nissan hasn’t been dabbling with crazy designs for endurance racers for nothing. Here’s the first spin-off sports car prototype based on the 2014 Le Mans challenger, the electric ZEOD RC.

It’s a stunning departure from what petrolheads are used to, especially seeing as it consumes no petrol, and Nissan wants to build it. Flashing the term “exploratory prototype” around, the firm cites an upcoming production vehicle based on this platform.

The Japanese company calls it the BladeGlider, and it shares the same ‘deltawing’ shape of the Nissan-backed Le Mans racers. A narrow front track looks pretty strange but it helps with aerodynamics and efficiency.

A flat under-chassis panel helps to create a little downforce, and Nissan has vaguely indicated that the electric motors will be powerful enough to back up the BladeGlider’s game-changing looks with fistfuls of performance.

The motors themselves are inside the wheels, which is an efficient place to put them in terms of drivetrain energy, but it’s not clear what you’re supposed to do when you get a puncture…

Weight distribution is planted 70 per cent to the rear, which will make the handling experience something unlike anything else on the road.

Inside there’s a rare one-plus-two seating arrangement (like a McLaren F1) and a dashboard that’s as futuristic as Futurama. It looks to be inspired by a fighter jet cockpit, although sources tell us fighter jets don’t tend to have air vents in the doors.

Speaking of the doors, as you can see they’re rather fancy, upward-swinging units, like a normal door with a hint of Lamborghini scissor. There’ll be no scraping these on high kerbs.

If it comes to market, the BladeGlider will be the most radical, game-changing sports car since the Bugatti Veyron. Nissan: bring it on.