VW’s all-electric race car conquered Pikes Peak hill climb, breaking even gas-powered car records

It looks like the Volkswagen I.D. R Pikes Peak’s impressive results in the qualifying round of the famous hill climb race was not a fluke.

VW’s all-electric race car custom-built for the race just broke the overall record at the official Pikes Peak hill climb today.

All the times will become official tomorrow, but 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.

Now it looks like both of those records now belong to Volkswagen and Romain Dumas, who drove the I.D. R Pikes Peak vehicle during the record run.

Dumas commented following his victory:

“Awesome! We exceeded even our own high expectations with that result. Since this week’s tests, we have known that it was possible to break the all-time record. For it to come off, everything had to come together perfectly – from the technology to the driver. And the weather had to play ball too. That everything ran so smoothly is an incredible feeling, and the new record on Pikes Peak is the icing on the cake. I still cannot believe that Volkswagen and my name are behind this incredible time. The I.D. R Pikes Peak is the most impressive car I have ever driven in competition. The electric drivetrain means that many things are different and I learned a lot during the project. The team did an indescribably meticulous, yet at the same time relaxed, job. Not only did we get the desired result, but the team spirit was also spot on. I am incredibly proud to have been a part of it.”

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 see the electric machine fly up the hill (don’t blink and listen to that sweet sound):

Electrek’s Take

That’s a mighty impressive feat by Volkswagen and the team.

The famous Pikes Peak competition has been emerging as a proving ground for electric vehicles in recent years and now it looks like EVs are starting to distance themselves from internal combustion engine vehicles in the race – leaving them behind.

I think we are going to see a lot more of that going on in all aspects of motorsports over the next few years.