Volkswagen has finally released pictures of its latest motorsport project and it calls it the I.D. R Pikes Peak1. It's an all-electric prototype racing car and the company will use it to compete in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on June 24, 2018. The four-wheel drive sports car combines its ambassadorial role for the future, electric I.D. family with the sportiest range of Volkswagen products, the R GmbH models. The Volkswagen brand plans to offer more than 20 fully-electric cars by 2025 and the manufacturing of the first production model in the I.D. family is scheduled to start at the end of 2019 in Zwickau, in the Saxony region of Germany.
"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."
The international Pikes Peak hill climb is a 19.99-kilometre route that runs from the start at 2,800 metres to the summit at 4,300 metres above sea level. Volkswagen last entered the Pikes Peak hill climb in 1987 with a dual-engine Golf, which generated an impressive 652 hp. However, the Wolfsburg-based manufacturer narrowly missed out on success.
"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." The record in the electric prototype class currently stands at 8:57.118 minutes and was set in 2016 by New Zealand's Rhys Millen (e0 PP100).
