Volkswagen’s push for electric vehicles will not only involve the humdrum hatchback and microbus, but also the realm of motorsport as well. The company’s motorsport division (Volkswagen Motorsport) recently teased an all-electric prototype that will aim to set a record next year at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado.
“The Pikes Peak hill climb is one of the world’s most renowned car races. It poses an enormous challenge and is therefore excellently suited to proving the capabilities of upcoming technologies,” said Frank Welsch, member of the Board responsible for development.
“Our electric race car will be equipped with innovative battery and drive technology. The extreme stress test on Pikes Peak will give us important findings that will benefit future development, and it will showcase our products and their technologies,” he continued.
“The race on Pikes Peak is a new beginning for us. We are developing an all-electric race vehicle for the first time,” added Sven Smeets, director of Volkswagen Motorsport. The car will feature an all-wheel drive system to tackle the 19.99 km-long race course, which climbs 1,440 m to the summit at 4,300 m above sea level.
The current record in the class of electric prototypes is 8 minutes 57.118 seconds, which was set by US driver Rhys Millen (e0 PP100) in 2016.
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