Volkswagen mulls high-performance electric R model

Volkswagen mulls high-performance electric R model

Volkswagen is reportedly considering the idea of a high-performance electric R model based on the forthcoming ID range, but the German giant will only commit to the project if the car can live up to the badge.

Volkswagen’s R division chief Jost Capito told Autocar “if we do an R electric car, then it will be a proper R, or else it wouldn’t make sense.” When asked when an ID R might arrive, he said “we have an idea, based on what’s going on on the racing and production side, but we haven’t defined a date yet. The development [in EV technology] is going too quick that every month you have changes. At some point, you have to say: this is what we want, define it and go for it.”

Capito added that the challenge of producing an all-electric R model was finding the right compromise between the performance of a motorsport car and the battery life and usability of a mainstream car. Nailing that balance will help determine which road-going ID model will be first in line to get the R treatment.

Identifying that model “depends on how we define performance vehicles,” he explained. “You need the space for motors and batteries, and the battery technology. It’s more complex in the past than with performance engines.” Right now, it’s difficult to determine which ID models are most likely to receive the R touch, but rumours claim the ID hatch and/or ID Crozz SUV to be potential candidates.


From left: VW ID Crozz concept & ID ‘hatch’ concept

Meanwhile, Volkswagen recently set the all-time record at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb with its I.D. R Pikes Peak all-electric racer, clocking a time of seven minutes 57.148 seconds with Romain Dumas behind the wheel. The feat shattered the previous record set by Sébastien Loeb in the Peugeot T16 Pikes Peak by a whopping 16 seconds.

The ID R race car features two electric motors that provide a total system output of 680 PS (500 kW) and 650 Nm of torque. The car alone weighs less than 1,100 kg, and it apparently sprints from zero to 100 km/h in 2.25 seconds, which is quicker than what Formula 1 and Formula E cars can manage. Powering the motors are special lithium-ion batteries that are engineered for maximum power density to deliver the highest possible power output rather than optimising range.

So, evidently, a pure-electric Volkswagen R seems plausible. The only questions are, when will it arrive, what form will it take, and beyond that, will buyers be keen? What do you think of this? Leave your thoughts, below.

GALLERY: Volkswagen I.D. R Pikes Peak


GALLERY: Volkswagen I.D. concept
GALLERY: Volkswagen I.D. Crozz concept

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Matthew H Tong

An ardent believer that fun cars need not be fast and fast cars may not always be fun. Matt advocates the purity and simplicity of manually swapping cogs while coping in silence of its impending doom. Matt's not hot. Never hot.

 

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