ID.4

Make
Volkswagen
Segment
SUV

It's no secret that Volkswagen has bet its future on electrification, and driving broader adoption of pure-electric vehicles will require getting EVs in front of as wide an audience as possible to demonstrate their technical advantages. The Volkswagen ID.R, the company's first electric race car design, was made to do just that. It smashed the all-time record at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in 2018, during its maiden competition drive, becoming the first car to complete the 12.42-mile course in under eight minutes, and it's been carving out its own niche in motorsports history ever since.

Yet even with records at Pikes Peak, the Goodwood Festival of Speed, and the infamous Nurburgring Nordschleife under its belt, the ID.R is far from done.

Volkswagen has announced that the ID.R will return to Goodwood competition later this year, when it enters the 2020 Goodwood SpeedWeek from October 16 through 18. SpeedWeek will effectively replace the annual Goodwood Festival of Speed and Goodwood Revival this year, as both events were canceled due to the global pandemic, but unfortunately, no spectators will be allowed to attend.

The Volkswagen ID.R's objective this October is a doozy: smash a period Goodwood Motor Circuit lap record set way back in 1965, when drivers Bruce McLaren and Jackie Stewart each set identical 1:20.4 lap times in an unofficial Formula 1 race. If there's time, Volkswagen would surely like to beat the 1:18.217 modern record, too, set by Nick Padmore in a Lola T70 Spyder in 2015.

The Volkswagen ID.R has a combined 680 horsepower and 479 lb-ft with dual-motor AWD, wrapped in a car that weighs in at less than 2,500 pounds. That curb weight would be impressive for an internal combustion car; for a car that has to cart around 45-kWh's worth of lithium ion batteries, it's just about unheard of.

The ID.R helped Volkswagen launch the pure-electric "ID" brand around the globe - a brand that will soon gain its second model: the Volkswagen ID.4 crossover. The ID.4 will be VW's first electric ID model for the US market, and the final production version is expected to be unveiled later in September ahead of a December launch.