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Watch VW’s all-electric race car break Pikes Peak record from a chopper that can barely keep up

The Volkswagen I.D. R Pikes Peak, an all-electric race car custom built to conquer the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, broke the overall record during the famous racing event last month.

Now VW has released an impressive video of the record-breaking run filmed from a helicopter that can barely keep up with the electric race car.

The Volkswagen I.D. R Pikes Peak did the climb in 7:57 – beating the previous record of 8:13 set by none other than Sébastien Loeb in a Peugeot 208 T16 back in 2013.

It’s impressive because VW was actually going for the record in the electric prototype class, which currently stands at 8:57.118 minutes, set in 2016 by New Zealand’s Rhys Millen.

The 12.4-mile route starts at just above 9,000 feet and climbs to the summit at 14,115 feet above sea level. It requires the right balance of power, energy capacity, and weight.

VW did it with a weight “under 2,500 lbs”, two electric motors capable of “680 hp and 479 lb-ft of torque, giving it a 0-60 time of 2.25 seconds,” and a 43 kWh battery pack.

Here you can watch the entire impressive run with this new video released by Volkswagen Motorsport:

https://youtu.be/CwZbvPY_4aE

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Avatar for Fred Lambert Fred Lambert

Fred is the Editor in Chief and Main Writer at Electrek.

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