Volkswagen continues to rack up the record feats with its all-electric ID.R, its latest being the hillclimb along Tianmen Mountain in China which it completed in seven minutes 38.585 seconds; check out the video below to watch the onboard footage.
The purpose-built EV racer took to the Nurburgring Nordschleife in June and emerged with the EV lap record of six minutes 5.336 seconds, after claiming the all-time Pikes Peak record last year with a time of seven minutes 57.148 seconds, both instances with Romain Dumas at the controls.
“A new record on a truly spectacular road – Volkswagen and the ID.R have once again shown what the electromobility of the future is already capable of today. Not only has it proven that electric cars like the ID.R can break established records and set new benchmarks, but the ID.R also shows how emotive and exciting the mobility of the future is,” said Volkswagen chief operating officer Ralf Brandstätter.
The Volkswagen ID.R packs a dual-motor powertrain with a total output of 680 PS, here wearing a red-and-black livery to distinguish it from those used on past record runs. This is unlikely to spawn a road-going replica, however, as the ID.R’s powertrain cannot be carried over like-for-like, Volkswagen Passenger Cars board member in charge of sales, marketing and aftersales Jürgen Stackmann had previously said.
“The little information and testing we had beforehand made it a huge challenge. The road is incredibly narrow and winding, but the drive was unbelievable fun with the electric power of the ID.R. The huge torque was a big advantage on the short straights, while the aerodynamics provided additional traction in the fast sections,” said Dumas.
“With the record set on the dramatic Tianmen road, we have mastered another challenge in our fully-electric ID.R race car. Seeing the ID.R race at this impressive Chinese monument of nature, has been truly spectacular. The ID.R underlines Volkswagen’s capabilities in terms of e-mobility and gives customers an exciting outlook for our fully-electric future,” said CEO of Volkswagen China Stephan Wöllenstein.
GALLERY: Volkswagen ID.R Nurburgring Nordschleife lap record run
GALLERY: Volkswagen ID.R on test
GALLERY: Volkswagen I.D. R Pikes Peak
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very nice road..ingenious idea to use the concrete barrier to make the road look like the great wall
It didn’t climb the stairs like the Land Rover? kekeke
Good catch! The Landie literally looks down on it.
It’s about time that they start at the 24h of Le Mans, just to see how they compare to petrol cars.
I missed the vroom vroom sounds :(