Volkswagen has unveiled its new all-electric I.D. R Pikes Peak prototype racing car, ahead of a bid to steal the record at the iconic hill climb this summer.
The I.D. R looks similar to a “modern-day Le Mans prototype”, featuring a “sizeable front splitter” and a “centre fin extending over the rear bodywork”, says Autocar.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
There is also a “huge rear wing” above a “multichannel diffuser”, both of which should help generate a significant amount of aerodynamic grip at high speeds, according to the magazine.
Underneath the Le Mans-inspired bodywork sits the company’s electric platform, which Top Gear says will be used for the upcoming I.D. Vizzion saloon and Buzz camper van.
Performance specs have yet to be revealed, but Volkswagen says the electric racer will be powered by a four-wheel drive system. This could mean the car will be powered by either two or four electric motors, with one on each axle or one on each wheel.
The I.D. R will need to be powerful if the firm is to have any hope of taking the electric record at the annual 12.4-mile hill climb in Colorado.
New Zealand-born racing driver Rhys Millen set the all-electric record in a 1,574bhp Drive eO PP100 in 2016, with a time of eight minutes and 57 seconds, says Engadget.
Fans will have to wait until the 24 June to see if Volkswagen can become Pikes Peak record holders.
-
Sport on TV guide: Christmas 2022 and New Year listingsSpeed Read Enjoy a feast of sporting action with football, darts, rugby union, racing, NFL and NBA
-
House of the Dragon: what to expect from the Game of Thrones prequelSpeed Read Ten-part series, set 200 years before GoT, will show the incestuous decline of Targaryen
-
One in 20 young Americans identify as trans or non-binarySpeed Read New research suggests that 44% of US adults know someone who is transgender
-
The Turner Prize 2022: a ‘vintage’ shortlist?Speed Read All four artists look towards ‘growth, revival and reinvention’ in their work
-
What’s on TV this Christmas? The best holiday televisionSpeed Read From films and documentaries to musicals for all the family
-
Coco vision: up close to Chanel opticalsSpeed Read Parisian luxury house adds opticals to digital offering
-
Abba returns: how the Swedish supergroup and their ‘Abba-tars’ are taking a chance on a reunionSpeed Read From next May, digital avatars of the foursome will be performing concerts in east London
-
‘Turning down her smut setting’: how Nigella Lawson is cleaning up her recipesSpeed Read Last week, the TV cook announced she was axing the word ‘slut’ from her recipe for Slut Red Raspberries in Chardonnay Jelly
