e-Golf

Make
Volkswagen
Segment
Hatchback

The Volkswagen ID.R is on a roll right now. This month, the electric race car smashed the EV lap record at the Nurburgring after completing the 12.9-mile circuit in just six minutes and 5.336 seconds. Amazingly, this beat the previous record set by China's NIO EP9 electric supercar by 40.564 seconds. This also makes the ID. R the second fastest car to ever lap the Nurburgring after the Porsche 919 Evo, which holds the current outright record with a time of five minutes and 19.55 seconds.

Last year, the ID.R made its motorsport debut at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb and set a new outright record of seven minutes and 57 seconds. Just three weeks later, ID.R was brought to the Goodwood Hillclimb and managed an impressive time of 43.86 seconds, setting a new EV lap record as well as the fastest time recorded in 15 years. This year, VW is setting its sights even higher.

"Last year, we lined up in Goodwood just three weeks after the record-breaking run on Pikes Peak and used the same technical configuration as we did at the hill climb," explained Volkswagen Motorsport Director Sven Smeets. "This year, we will field an ID.R that has been prepared specifically for Goodwood." The Motorsport Director went on to reveal that Volkswagen has developed a new sprint version of the ID.R with smaller batteries to further reduce weight. "We have also opted for a far more aggressive energy management strategy for the short distance. You need very high output for a very short time for the sprint in Goodwood," he said.

Volkswagen adopted a similar strategy at the Nurburgring by using a specially prepared ID.R to handle the Green Hell's unique challenges. Hopefully, these new modifications will enable the ID.R to beat last year's Goodwood time and possibly set a new outright record at the famous hill climb. To achieve this, it will need to beat Nick Heidfeld's time of 41.6 seconds set in 1999 in a McLaren MP4/13 Formula 1 car.