VW unveils new all-electric racing car to climb Pikes Peak this summer

After months of teasing, VW has finally unveiled its new all-electric racing car built to climb the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb this summer.

They claim that the vehicle is faster than even Formula 1 and Formula E cars.

As we previously reported, VW had been teasing the vehicle with images, but they never released many details about the machine.

This week, they unveiled the real vehicles with some specs: VW says that they managed to keep the weight under 2,500 lbs and fit a powertrain with two electric motors capable of “680 hp and 479 lb-ft of torque, giving it a 0-60 time of 2.25 seconds.”

Unfortunately, the German automaker didn’t elaborate on the battery pack beyond confirming that it consists of Li-ion batteries.

VW says that it didn’t aim for the highest performance possible and instead focused on achieving “the ideal balance between energy capacity and weight.”

While a low weight helps, they need a somewhat significant energy capacity to make the 12.4-mile route, which starts at just above 9,000 feet and climbs to the summit at 14,115 feet above sea level, in a record time.

VW sees Pikes Peak has a proving ground for electric vehicles and it wants to beat records with its latest EV technology.

Two years back, a Tesla Model S set a new record for a production electric vehicle, while Rimac also did an impressive job with its all-electric 1.1 MW monster racecar, while several all-electric bikes also made good impressions.

Faraday Future even brought one of its beta prototypes to the event last summer.

But Volkswagen hasn’t entered the Pikes Peak hill climb since 1987 and now it’s looking to take the record in the electric prototype class, which currently stands at 8:57.118 minutes, set in 2016 by New Zealand’s Rhys Millen.

We will be able to see the vehicle in action on June 24 at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado.