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Professional driver Michael Krumm and his wife, Japanese tennis legend Kimiko Date-Krumm, will soon take ownership of a Nissan LEAF. In this video interview, German-born Krumm talks about their decision to drive a zero-emission car.

Krumm, one of three drivers taking the wheel of the new Nissan DeltaWing at the Sebring endurance race in Florida this weekend, also describes his passion for testing EVs and their potential future in racing.

Q1. Your family will soon be the owners of a Nissan LEAF. What were your car specs and color selection?

Krumm: First of all, we are very excited about this LEAF. I personally love electric cars and I think it’s an absolutely fantastic development. To drive an electric car is something very special.

To drive without noise, with the quietness and have the power, that’s just an absolutely fantastic thing.

My wife is going to drive it mainly, so we’ve looked at the color. She likes a black car, so we’ve chosen the black color.

It has great features with all the cameras and all the interiors, and many options that you can choose from. We’ve dug through the catalog and obviously I am much more excited about cars and I’ve taken part in lots of the decisions of what we chose. We really can’t wait to drive the car.

Q2. Do you see electric vehicles having a place in racing eventually?

Krumm: Yes I do. I expect it’s obviously going to take a long time before that happens, maybe 10 years. I’m not sure.

But it must be. I believe zero-emission in the big cities will come first, like Tokyo, London or New York. I think that’s where it starts and then, when we get better power, longer distances and more and more people can use it, then automatically racing has to shift, it has to adapt.

Nissan with the NISMO project, the racing version, is doing a great job already representing it. As this is feasible, we can actually race in this. (For more on the 100% electric Nismo RC racing car, click here)

I hope that I am not getting old too quick because I would love to race in this electric car one day. I hope that the public, the car drivers out there, the users, are open-minded to electric vehicles. Give it a go and don’t think that this is something for “eco” or “green people” – it’s not like that.

The cars are super fast. I tested the Nissan LEAF – the normal road car – at the Silverstone circuit last year. I did it on the short main straight, 170 kph just like that. It was just absolutely mind-blowing acceleration and the power of it. It’s really amazing what can be done with technology today on that level, and I hope the world will acknowledge it soon.

Credits:    www.nissan-global.com