Volkswagen to Challenge Pikes Peak with I.D. R Electric Race Car
Can a futuristic racecar powered by electrons help you forget about diesel?
If you want to see impressive racing with that old school “this is too dangerous to be legal” feel, you have to go to Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, which is happening June 24 in Colorado. Just clamber up the mountain, park yourself on any spot of ground level enough to not fall over, and watch as some of the weirdest and fastest cars in the world try to make the climb to 14,115 feet. This year, Volkswagen is taking part in the shenanigans with a new electric race car. An electric race car that they have now officially named the I.D. R.
This points to the first collaboration between Volkswagen’s upcoming EV division, the I.D. models, and VW’s R performance arm. For a first attempt, it does seem like this pairing could pave the way for some astonishing cars in the future.
For starters, the way this looks in these first renders is out of this world. It’s like an LMP-1 car made for road use. Secondly, we need to talk about the performance. Besides the fact it will use the MEB powertrain platform, VW has provided basically zero information on the car. But look into the company’s recent press release and they say the team behind the car is “highly motivated to set a new record for electric cars.”
For reference, the record holding EV is a custom-designed race car that packs nearly 1,600 horsepower. That car is called the Drive e0 PP100, and it managed to complete the 12.4 mile course in 8:57.
Considering the most powerful I.D. concept yet unveiled by VW has less than 400 horsepower, we have no idea how VW plans to push the power, but we can’t wait to see it. The race takes place on June 24, so we expect to get more details and photos of the real car sometime in the next month or so. Keep it locked here on 6SpeedOnline to make sure you don’t miss it.
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