Inside VW’s electric hillclimb contender

There’s no hiding place on the Pikes Peak hillclimb: high pro ile, high stakes, high risk – but it’s a great chance to move beyond Dieselgate.

‘IT’S ABOUT TIME we settled the score,’ says Sven Smeets, boss of VW Motorsport, ahead of the new ID R electric hillclimb car competing at Pikes Peak on June 24. VW hasn’t had a works-backed contender since a twin-engined Golf took part, with mixed results, in the ’80s.

An all-electric powertrain has a significant potential advantage in an event that finishes more than two miles above sea level: unlike an internal combustion engine, the twin electric motors shouldn’t suffer from the thinning of the air at high altitude.

Those motors put out 500kW (671bhp) and 479lb ft to all four wheels. VW says acceleration is quicker than a current F1 car, launching from standstill to 62mph in 2.25 seconds, with a top speed of 149mph possible.

Sticky Michelin 31/71-18 tyres, as used by Porsche Cup teams, will mean plenty of grip for the all-tarmac surface, and a superlight carbonfibre monocoque chassis with steel roll cage keeps the weight down to around 1100kg including driver Romain Dumas.

Just like any electric car, battery regeneration ability on the move enables the ID R to recuperate up to 20 per cent of the total power needed to make it to the summit of the 12.42mile climb. It’s all uphill, but there’s regeneration every time Dumas brakes for corners.

Although electric cars are at a relative advantage at high altitude, all competitors face aerodynamic challenges caused by the decrease in air pressure the higher the car climbs. Hence many hours spent in Porsche’s Weissach wind tunnel.

‘The altitude on Pikes Peak means that the air we are driving through is on average 35 per cent thinner. As a result, we lose 35 per cent of our downforce compared to a racetrack at sea level. The huge rear wing allows us to compensate for some of this lost downforce,’ says technical consultant Willy Rampf, a former tech director of the Sauber F1 team.

‘Pikes Peak is our first e-project. This is completely new territory for us,’ says Smeets. The car represents ‘a whole new world’ for VW Motorsport according to Smeets; ‘we want to continue building in this direction.’

Failure could be embarrassing – albeit with plenty of learning potential – but success could help boost VW’s range of ID electric passenger cars, due in 2020. Legendary racing driver, now VW race consultant, Hans-Joachim Stuck says: ‘Not only is it a marketing exercise for us but it also means we can prove to the US that we can do other things besides diesel engines.’