Volkswagen I.D. R Pikes Peak EV SMASHES all-time record

Volkswagen’s I.D. R Pikes Peak – a monster 671bhp electric VW designed to take on Pikes Peak Hill Climb, has taken the all-time record.

Now VW want us to think of them as a fluffy-bunny, responsible car makers valiantly striving to bring the world clean, green and often electric cars – rather than that dirty diesel stuff – they want to show what electric cars can really do.

So they built the I.D. R Pikes Peak car not only to show off what an electric car can do, but to act as a halo for the upcoming range of I.D EVs, with a plan to take on the Pikes Peak Hill Climb and grab the record for the quickest run up the hill for an electric car. But it went a bit better than that.

With a 12.42 mile climb through 156 turns, dealing with cloud and climate change as the climb goes on, Pikes Peak is a monster challenge for any car, and the record time for an electric car, which was VW’s aim, is 8:57.118.

Despite some slightly dodgy weather, and delays, driver Romain Dumas threw all he had at the drive and ended up not only breaking the Pikes Peak record for an electric car, but with a time of 7:57.148 he become the first driver to get to the top of Pikes Peak in under eight minutes, in the process taking the all-time record by 16 seconds from Sebastian Loeb too.

Well done VW and Romain Dumas.