Nissan e.dams are back for a second season in the FIA Formula E Championship, with a redesigned car and fresh new livery to match.
The team sported a sleek but safe silver aesthetic last season, however you certainly can’t accuse them of lacking creativity this time around.
The stealthy look of 2018/19 has been swapped for a vibrant red, black & white design, inspired by the traditional Japanese kimono garment.
The garment itself is seen as a symbol of longevity and good fortune; traits which the Nissan e.dams squad were somewhat lacking last year. On multiple occasions, the team snatched defeat in the face of victory, either through energy mismanagement or driver error.
Despite this, Sebastien Buemi still managed to claw his way into second place in the drivers’ championship, while Oliver Rowland showed front-running pace on multiple occasions. Indeed, if e.dams can channel the sentiments of the kimono onto the race circuit, as well as onto the design of their car, then they should be a match for the best teams on the grid.
“As we approach the beginning of our second season of Formula E competition, our design team proposed a new look, one that celebrates our Japanese heritage and vibrant technology DNA,” said Alfonso Albaisa, Nissan’s senior vice president for global design. “We used our iconic Nissan racing red, black and white colours layered diagonally in a kimono pattern, which creates a dynamic and powerful impression.”
With sixteen Super Pole appearances between their two drivers, Nissan ended last season as the team with the best qualifying record on the grid. However, a change in the regulations means that they might not be quite so quick from the get-go this year.
The dual-motor system which the team had run previously has been outlawed, meaning that the engineers at Nissan e.dams have had to start from scratch on a single-motor design. By contrast, their rivals (who competed with single motors last year) are 12 months further along in their development cycles.
With that in mind, Nissan’s global motorsport director, Michael Carcamo, is cautious about the season ahead.
“The second season is sometimes harder than the first.” he said. “With a major change to a single-motor solution, we had plenty to do in the off-season. We’ll use everything we learned from season five to improve our package, with an even greater emphasis on battery and energy management.”
