It has been more than 30 years since Volkswagen participated in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. The "race to the clouds," which is held outside of Colorado Springs in the Rocky Mountains, has been running since 1916.
During the race, the driver climbs 4,700 feet on the 12.4-mile journey to the summit. When the driver reaches the peak, he/she is more than 14,000 feet above sea level.
In 2016, Rhys Millen drove an eO PP100 electric supercar up the mountain in a record-breaking 8:57.118. He actually broke his own record in the electric prototypes class from the previous year.
But Millen better watch his back, Volkswagen just announced that it is working on an electric prototype that they believe can and will shatter his record.
VW doesn't offer much with the first glimpse of the electric race car, it is merely pictured lurking in the shadows. Hopefully, we'll get a chance to see a little more of it in June 2018, when the cars once again go screaming up the mountain.
The prototype is the result of a collaboration between Volkswagen Motorsport and the company's Technical Vehicle Safety Development division in Wolfsburg, Germany. It's also the company's first attempt at an all-electric race car.
The last time that Volkswagen Motorsport raced up the Pikes Peak mountain, it was 1987, and the company's twin-engine Golf didn't place at the event.
The new project is part of the company's effort to reshape its image as an electric vehicle manufacturer. The company plans to have 23 all-electric vehicles on the market by 2025.