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VW Beats The Pikes Peak Record With An EV

Electric cars are certainly taking their rightful place in motorsport history as Volkswagen have torn the Pikes Peak Hill Climb record to pieces with none other than an EV.

They took home an eye-watering time of 7m57.148s with their ID R Pikes Peak race car with the talented Romain Dumas behind the wheel, putting the record of 8m13.878s by Sebastien Loeb in his bat**** Peugeot 208 T16 five years ago to shame. The course in Colorado, which spans a long 12.4 miles and 156 corners, offered the perfect conditions for the car and the driver, and allowed them to put an electric car on top.

“We exceeded even our own high expectations with that result,” says Dumas.

“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. The I.D. R Pikes Peak is the most impressive car I have ever driven in competition.”

This high praise comes from a man who won Le Mans with a Porsche 919 Hybrid, but obviously, the ID R has blown his expectations out the water. Not such a surprise when it boasts figures such as 670bhp and a 2.25sec 0-62mph time. And of course, you can’t forget the massive amounts of downforce produced by all those fins and wings. Topped off by the fact that this car was produced in only 250 days, I can be entirely honest when I say electric cars are certainly the way forward in motorsport.

Of course, Dumas propelled it to its victory, so only time will tell if another talented driver can top it.

Alex Harrington

Alex started racing at a young age so certainly knows his way around a car and a track. He can just about put a sentence together too, which helps. He has a great interest in the latest models, but would throw all of his money at a rusty old French classic and a 300ZX. Contact: [email protected]

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