Volkswagen is in the
midst of ramping up its EV game. What may very well set it apart is the
prototype with which it aims to stake its claim. Unveiled yesterday in Alès, France, the new VW I.D. R Pikes Peak racer
is set to tackle the famous Race to the Clouds.
To get there, the German automaker has devised a
racing prototype that it claims is quicker off the line than an F1 car. 2.25
seconds is all it takes to hit 100 km/h from a standstill.
That mind-bending performance comes courtesy of an
electric powertrain capable of producing 680 hp and 881 Nm of torque. That’d be enough to motivate most road-going supercars, but
the ID R weighs much less: under 1,100 kilograms, according to the
manufacturer.
The Lamborghini Huracan Performante, by comparison,
weighs nearly a thousand pounds more, packs 40 fewer horses, and over 200 fewer
lb-ft of torque. And that street-legal supercar managed a sub-7-minute lap time
at the Nürburgring Nordschleife.
The task of driving the lightweight, high-powered
machine falls to one Romain Dumas. The French driver not only won the 24 Hours
of Le Mans for sister-company Porsche, but has claimed three victories at Pikes
Peak.
