The I.D. R Pikes Peak has undergone testing for the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on the original track in the US state of Colorado. VW Motorsport has now established a base in the state in preparation for further tests
Despite access being limited to just three hours, during the session Volkswagen Motorsport and driver Romain Dumas focused on the suspension, tires, and the optimum use of battery charge and energy recycling when braking.
“Perfect energy management is one of the key factors for successfully attacking the record in the electric car category,” explained François-Xavier Demaison, technical director at Volkswagen Motorsport, who, as project manager, is responsible for I.D. R Pikes Peak.
“The first test drive at Pikes Peak was successful. This shows that our computer simulations and the test drives in Europe were on point.”
For the 96th edition of the hill climb, driver Dumas has his eyes on a time of 8:57.118 minutes – the record for electric cars on the 19.99km track with 156 turns set in 2016. This corresponds to an average speed of approximately 134km/h.
“The news from Colorado is very positive: we are on schedule with the preparations for the I.D. R Pikes Peak and can now focus on the fine-tuning,” explained Volkswagen Motorsport director Sven Smeets. “It is the result of a very strong team performance, initially here in Germany, and now by our team on-site in the USA. If we continue to work with focus and motivation, we are in with a good chance of setting a new record time for e-cars on June 24.”
Dumas was delighted after the test. “The I.D. R Pikes Peak is the best car that I have ever driven up this mountain. The acceleration and cornering speed are really impressive. Thanks to the electric drive, I don’t need to change gears and can focus on the line instead,” explained the Frenchman. “But it goes without saying that there is always room for improvement. In the remaining test drives, we will continue to optimize the tuning.”
