Following the record-breaking run at the famous Pikes Peak Hill Climb in the United States, the ID. R – Volkswagen’s fully-electric sports car – has now set its sights on another record in the summer of 2019: the lap record for electric cars on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife, regarded as the toughest racetrack in the world.
The ID. R is the sporty ambassador to an entire range of electric vehicles, which Volkswagen plans to launch from 2020 onwards.
The ID. R’s motorsport assignments are a declaration of Volkswagen’s commitment to electromobility and underline the huge potential power that the E-drive can deliver on regular roads in the future.
“After the record on Pikes Peak, the fastest time for electric cars on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife is the next big challenge for the ID. R,” said Volkswagen Motorsport director Sven Smeets. “A lap record on the Nordschleife is a great accolade for any car, whether a race car or a production car.”
The ID. R, which is being further developed for the record attempt at the Nürburgring, is powered by two electric motors with a system capacity of 500kW/671hp and weighs less than 1,100kg, including the driver.
“Above all, we will modify the aerodynamics of the ID. R, in order to cope with the conditions on the Nordschleife, which differ greatly from those on Pikes Peak,” said Volkswagen Motorsport technical director François-Xavier Demaison.
Unlike the US classic on Pikes Peak, which starts at an altitude of 2,862 metres and ends at 4,302, the Nordschleife winds its way through the Eifel region at between 320 and 617 metres above sea level.
Dumas is the key man VW is banking on to make the Nurburgring record happen in summer. He achieved the Pikes Peak climb last June in under 8 minutes, a record feat (below).
The iconic German circuit has a unique characteristic, not least thanks to the long Döttinger Höhe straight. “As part of our meticulous preparations for the record attempt, we will put the ID. R through an intense test and development programme at various racetracks in the spring,” Demaison adds. The record attempt is planned for the summer.
For the Nordschleife event, Romain Dumas would again be at the wheel for the record attempt.
He won the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb with the ID. R Pikes Peak in June 2018 and, with a time of 7:57.148 minutes, became the first driver in over 100 years of this race to go under eight minutes. The Frenchman also has four victories in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring to his name.
“The thought of driving the ID. R on the Nordschleife is already enough to give me goosebumps. I know the track very well, but the ID. R will be a completely different challenge, with its extreme acceleration and huge cornering speeds,” said Dumas.
“I can hardly wait for the first tests. Breaking the existing electric record will certainly not be a stroll in the park.”
The current record for fully-electric vehicles stands at 6:45.90 minutes – at an average speed of almost 185kph – and was set in 2017 by Britain’s Peter Dumbreck in a NIO EP9.
