"If I had 5 million Nissan fans in Formula E then I would be happy" - Michael Carcamo, Nissan’s Global Motorsport Director, about electric racing

At the Geneva International Motor Show 2019 I had a privilege to meet Mr. Michael Carcamo, Nissan’s Global Motorsport Director, who oversees Nissan’s Formula E activities and also Nissan Leaf RC Nismo project.

Krzysztof Kowalczyk: Exciting news, Nissan entered Formula E races this season. Which race, which city is the most important for you?

Michael Carcamo: Formula E is a very nice fit for Nissan, as we are the first Japanese manufacturer which is one important aspect and as off all the manufacturers involved in Formula E I think we have the largest retail footprint in all of the cities, all of the races that Formula E is attending.

So for us, it puts us in the unique position to exploit that to really reach the Nissan fans and bring them this very exciting thing, which is Formula E, to their city.

Therefore I wouldn’t pick one city - I’d say that the calendar is a very exciting calendar, which changes every season and next year you will have new races again.

KK: Some professional motorsport drivers still prefer ICE (internal combustion engine) races and they say that electric races are not to be compared with traditional races - what do you think?

MC: You’ve got to remember that the opportunity to drive the electric is quite limited. So it’s not as if every driver has the opportunity to be in Formula E, but for example we know that our drivers who do both would benefit because the more driving time the sharper their skills are. And we know that in our case our driver who was a championship winning driver in ICE finds just as much or more complexity in Formula E, for sure than in ICE. And racing is racing so that’s ultimately what drivers want to do - they want to win the championships and be the best at their sport. And with nine manufacturers in formula E I don’t think anywhere else you can do that. So if you gonna be the best then you wanna be the best. In Formula E it’s gonna be quite challenging.

KK:When do you think there will be a tipping so that the majority of fans will switch from Formula One to Formula E? Because right now Formula One still has the larger audience

MC: I don’t wanna see a switch - I wanna see growth. I wanna see the audience, the people buying Nissan Leafs be the fans of Formula E. This is what I want because we we sell 5 million cars. If I had 5 million Nissan fans in Formula E then I would be happy. And if I can extend that to 50 million or 500 million people around the globe watching Formula E this is great.

I don’t think they have to be against each other, Formula One has its own role and its own roadmap, Formula E has its our own roadmap. The same way Nissan has our own roadmap for electrification and mobility. I think we can coexist, it’s ok.

KK: You brought Nissan Leaf RC to Geneva Motor Show this year. How many of them will be manufactured?

MC: Already manufactured - six of them. And their geographically spread throughout the world in order to give everyone an opportunity to see these amazing vehicles.

As you know for us Formula E it’s at the very high end, it’s a global. And the Leaf it’s what you can actually buy but in between there is a little bit of a dream - and the Leaf RC is that because it’s using real production parts, real motors, real batteries in a racing shell. But nonetheless - it’s production and the performance is unbelievable!

KK: If I not only want to see it but I’d like to buy it and race it, when and where would it be?

MC: Unfortunately today there doesn’t exist a market for it. Again, we pioneering - we are always in front trying to create what’s not possible, possible. Today there is no racing series for it that’s why we decided to build six.

KK: Jaguar launched an I-Pace Trophy racing series along the Formula E though but unfortunately it’s very expensive, several hundred thousand pounds a seat. So I could imagine that if you would launch Nissan Leaf RC racing series it would be much more affordable and the community could benefit from it.

MC: I think that more just having race car drivers driving. I think what’s interesting is that we can make the car available and demonstration runs for people without having to pay few hundred thousands for the the race seat - because in the end that’s not the goal. The goal is to educate and teach people more about the EV solutions. And Leaf Nismo is an extension of our family, it’s a production car.

KK: When do you think GT- R will be electric?

MC: Unfortunately, I don’t have the keys to the product plan (laughing) - I have to focus on delivering the Formula E.

KK: Is it only the Formula E you are focusing on or also GT series?

MC: As a motorsports program or portfolio we have Super GT series in Japan, which is an important series for us, but also GT racing and GT3, like Blancpain, like Asian Le Mans, like VLN series (which base engine is derived from GT-R).

KK: Polish team InterEuropol Competition just won Asian Le Mans, I don’t know if you knew it?

MC: I did, I did, I did!

KK: Are you coming to Le Mans in June?

MC: I don’t think I will have the opportunity - unfortunately our calendar is quite full with Formula E so I think I‘ll have to miss it this year, but I will watch it, of course.

KK: You were responsible for LMP program at Nissan, for some period of time…

MC: I joined after the Le Mans 2015 in September that year so I didn’t really have an opportunity to really see the benefits of that program as we decided to stop that program in December that year.

KK: Speaking of the motorsports in general, is Poland anywhere on your radar in terms of a source of technologies or a place where you look for drivers? Do you see Poland as a country somewhere on your motorsport map or are we non-existent? And please be honest!

MC: Every country is developing a lot of technologies. Poland, like other countries, are having great startups, producing great technology - so we will take them, just as Nissan takes the resources from wherever. We don’t focus on where it comes from, we don’t focus on one country, we focus on the best, so if we can find good resources, good technology, good partners we will take them. We are a Japanese-French alliance and I’m an American and our driver is Swiss. In the end what matters is the results and the performance that you can produce.

KK: In terms of naming like top 3 needs of your motorsport division which Polish startups and Polish engineers would try to solve some needs what would it be?

MC: I think the most interesting, the most challenging obstacle in Formula E and motorsport right now is the efficiency and battery management. How to manage a limited resource which has its own constraints because as temperature has an impact on it - that it’s a critical element.

That system - not just a battery, not just a motor - but how it works together (powertrain) this a challenge.

Lots of people can produce batteries, lots of people can produce motors - making them work together that’s a bit more challenging.

KK: I’m really curious when we can put the new GT-R R36 next to the classic one but apparently you don’t have the keys to the roadmap (laughing)...

MC: I don’t have the keys, unfortunately, I should find the keys but…GT-R it’s an iconic car and people have grown to admire and love it. And I think even within Nissan as an engineer, it’s still something pretty incredible!

KK: I’m coming back to that example because Skylines used to rule races in Japan and also worldwide - that’s I was asking about Leaf RC because that would be actually an opportunity for you to develop the market (because you said there is no market for it so you are not manufacturing Leaf RC). Maybe Leaf RC could repeat the success of Skyline GT-R?

MC: We never know, for sure this is a possibility. We are always looking for opportunities. At the moment the idea is really to share rather and to see what’s possible.

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Michael Carcamo is Director of Nissan Global Motorsports.

Krzysztof Kowalczyk is an electromobility expert and avid motorsport and e-motorsport fan and he occasionally covers topics like electric cars, innovative technologies and classic cars writing for Classic Auto magazine and electromobility/automotive media.

Pictures used in the article either provided by Nissan (and copyrighted by Nissan) or taken by author (and copyrighted by author).

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