After the diesel emissions scandal, we expected
Volkswagen to come out with a bunch of boring electric vehicles as a way of
making amends. To some extent, it has, but its latest electric vehicle, the ID
R Pikes Peak racer, is anything but dull.
Volkswagen is taking this year’s Pikes Peak Hill
Climb very seriously, as the ID R Pikes Peak is a bespoke machine specifically
built to tackle the 12.42-mile course. Besides being a competitive entry, VW is
hoping to use it as a way to garner some attention for its upcoming electric
I.D. family.
We’ve gotten a pretty good look at the ID R Pikes
Peak recently, but the video below is our first glimpse at the vehicle in
action on a track. In the 36-second clip, it looks like VW is starting to do
some initial testing, seeing how the vehicle performs when it’s being pushed.
VW packed two electric motors into the ID R Pikes
Peak, giving it a total output of 680 HP and 650 Nm of
torque. Thanks to its ultra low curb weight of just 1,100-kilograms, the vehicle is quicker to 100 km/h than an F1 car,
capable of doing the sprint in just 2.25 seconds.
The racer does have its menacing look, but the most
eerie thing about it is that it is totally silent. We don’t know if it can
topple Sebeastien Loeb’s incredible time, but we are definitely interested to
see if it can beat the current electric car record of 8:57.118 that was set in
2016 by Rhys Millen in the eO PP03.
