First Pikes Peak, now for the Nurburgring

Back in June Volkswagen’s electric tour de force the I.D. R shattered the Pikes Peak hill climb record record.

At the wheel of the 500kW all-electric I.D. R Pikes Peak, frenchman Romain Dumas eclipsed a field include many cars with conventional engines.

Not only did he break the previous record for electric vehicles, but also smashed Sébastien Loeb’s all-time record from 2013 — by a full 16 seconds.

Now VW has the famous German Nürburgring race circuit in its sights.

After working on aerodynamics, the most recent tests at the racetracks in Le Castellet and Alès (both France) have focused on the I.D. R’s energy management software.

Engineers are looking for the ideal set-up for the electric drivetrain ahead of the record attempt on the challenging Nürburgring-Nordschleife, regarded by many as the ultimate test of car and speed in the world.

In the northern summer of 2019, the ID. R will be aiming to set a new record lap time for electric vehicles at the historic Eifel circuit, again with Romain Dumas at the wheel.

“The ID. R is the most high- performance race car ever developed by Volkswagen Motorsport”, says François-Xavier Demaison, Volkswagen Motorsport Technical Director.

“The 2019 evolution of the racecar has taken every aspect of the technology to the next level.

“This is also true of the electric drivetrain, which has become even more efficient ahead of the e-lap record attempt on the Nordschleife.

“We have used computer simulations to develop tailored energy management.

“The most recent tests in Le Castellet and Alès focused on this software, alongside the new aerodynamics of the ID. R. Next up is the first test session on the Nordschleife.”

High-performance computers are designed to optimise power output for both electric motors and brake energy recovery (regeneration).

The two electric motors in the ID. R provide 500kW of power to drive all four wheels.

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The rear axle battery performs at a slightly higher level, to allow the front axle and the front tyres’ energy reserves to be used for steering.

This avoids any front axle understeer that would be detrimental to the performance of the race car and helps to achieve ideal driving behaviour.

The precise power output for both engines and the regeneration can be adjusted variably to suit any situation on the racetrack.

Once the engineers are happy with the setup, it will allow driver Romain Dumas to go hard from start to finish on the 20.832km track and beat the current fastest time (6:45.90 minutes).