Electric cars have been in the spotlight for a while and now they have conquered the motorsport industry too. At the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Volkswagen’s all-electric ID.R broke the hillclimb record created by Formula One Mclaren in 1999, setting a new hard-to-break record of just over 39 seconds. By the looks of it, it might not be long before car enthusiasts sell any car in Abu Dhabi and switch to an electric one.
With French professional racing car driver, Romain Dumas in the driver’s seat, the ID.R went up the hill in just 39.9 seconds. The previous record for this climb was at 41.6 seconds. The McLaren MP4/13 Formula 1 that created the initial record almost two decades ago, was driven by Nick Heidfield, a German ex-formula one racer. In addition, Volkswagen ID.R is the first car to complete the hill climb at Goodwood in under 40 seconds as well.
With Dumas behind the wheel, the Volkswagen ID.R has won numerous awards. At the Pikes Peak Festival in 2018, Volkswagen ID.R conquered the climb in just under 8 minutes beating the EV hill climb record as well as the overall record which was just over 8 minutes. ID.R also broke the record of a Chinese EV, NIO EP9 by one minute at the Nurburgring-Nordschleife. Driving and winning on one of the best tracks in the world, Nurburgring is certainly impressive.
ID.R was tweaked to perform at the 2019 Goodwood Festival. This ID.R had a lighter battery pack in comparison to the one in Nurburgring. The weight of the car was under 1,000 kg with the driver on board. Furthermore, it had a revamped battery with more power. Additionally, Volkswagen collaborated with Bridgestone to fit this car with customized soft slick tires.
The Volkswagen ID.R EV has a total output of 670 hp and 650 Nm of torque. It covers 0-60 kpm in 2.25 seconds with a top speed of 270 kph. With these figures, it can beat almost any race car from the past.
Safe to say, Volkswagen has set a new milestone for its competitors. This incredible performance might convince many gear-heads to sell any car in Abu Dhabi and get an electric vehicle. And if you’re looking to sell your car, list your car on CarSwitch.com!
