Nissan X-Trail FCV Sets Fastest Lap for Fuel-Cell Vehicle at the ‘Ring

Ever since Nissan first announced the lap time of the all-new GT-R at the Nurburgring circuit, carmakers are going berserk with ‘Ring times; Porsche did it with the new 911 Carrera; GM did it with the Corvette ZR1 and the CTS-V and so did Renault with the Megane R26.R. Now Nissan has made a comeback by announcing the lap time of the X-Trail FCV (Fuel Cell Vehicle) that managed to turn the 20.8 km-long course in 11:58 minutes. Since Nissan is the first automaker to record an FCV lap on the famous circuit, the X-Track FCV is of course the fastest vehicle of its type… -Continued

“I was very surprised at just how comfortable it is to drive a fuel cell car. You get in, turn the key and off you go, just like with a normal car,” said Frank Eickholt, member of the Nissan 24 Hours Nürburgring race team and Nordschleife aficionado. “Although some of the uphill sections were challenging, the speed was still very impressive. If the course hadn’t been so wet, I could have gotten more momentum out of the curves. Thirty to 40 seconds could have been shaved off for sure,” he added.

The X-Trail FCV that is powered by electricity produced on board the vehicle, in a hydrogen fuel cell stack, has an official top speed of 150 km/h (93 mph) and a range of 500 km (310 miles). Maximum output is 120PS while maximum torque is 280Nm.