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For anyone thinking electric cars were still a bit dull and worthy, can we humbly offer up for consideration this; the Volkswagen I.D. R Pikes Peak. No, not a concept car (well, it kind of is, but it's also a runner) and no, not some pie-in-the-sky video game mockup, but a real, running race car that shall be flung up all 4,300 metres of the legendary Pikes Peak hillclimb in Colorado, in the US in June.
June 24th to be exact, the day that all other runners and riders will gather for the famed 'Race To The Clouds' which has been won in the past by such motor racing luminaries as Mario Andretti (driving, of all things, a modified mid-engined Indycar back in the days when Pikes Peak was a dirt road), Ari Vatanen (who took the hill in a monstrous Peugeot 405 T16), and Sebastian Loeb, who currently holds the all-time record in his Peugeot 208 T16. Ex-Audi Le Mans driver Romain Dumas will take the wheel of this most explosive of the I.D. electric car concept family for the event.
"We want to be at the forefront of electromobility with Volkswagen and the I.D. family," explained Volkswagen Member of the Board of Management with responsibility for Development, Dr. Frank Welsch. "Competing in the most famous hill climb in the world with the I.D. R Pikes Peak not only has symbolic meaning, but is also a valuable test for the general development of electric cars."
Jürgen Stackmann, Member of the Board of Management with responsibility for Sales, Marketing and After Sales, added: "Pikes Peak is without question the most iconic hill climb in the world. For Volkswagen, it represents a fantastic opportunity to charge the topic of E mobility, both emotionally and from a sporting perspective, thanks to the I.D. R project."
The last time Volkswagen entered the event was in 1987, with a mad 652hp Golf that actually had two engines, one driving each axle. That car failed, but Volkswagen wants to try to take the great Rhys Millien's 2016-set electric Pikes Peak record of 8 minutes 57 seconds, and maybe even go after Loeb's all-time 8 minutes 13 seconds 2013 record.
"It is about time we settled the score," said Volkswagen Motorsport Director, Sven Smeets. "The I.D. R Pikes Peak represents an extremely exciting challenge for us, to show what is possible with an electric engine in motorsport. The entire team behind our driver Romain Dumas is highly motivated to set a new record for electric cars."