Volkswagen ID. R sets Nürburgring efficiency record
We’ve heard of the fastest lap times on the Nürburgring, but how about the most energy-efficient lap? Volkswagen is bragging it's done just that on the famed circuit with its electric ID. R racing prototype.
Back in June race driver Romain Dumas sped through the 20.8-km track in just 6:05.336 minutes, with the ID. R using just 24.7kWh of energy – the most energy-efficient lap of all time on the Nordschleife.
According to Volkswagen, that makes it considerably faster than a GT3-class race car while consuming only a quarter of the energy during the course of one lap of the 'Green Hell'.
The bragging rights continue. The ID. R recorded the fastest lap time of any electric car on the Nürburgring Nordschleife, beating the previous record-holder, the production Nio EP9 from China, by a whole 40 seconds.
This blistering performance also makes the ID.R’s time the second-fastest time of any car, production or otherwise, on the Nürburgring. The fastest remains the Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo Le Mans prototype driven by Timo Bernhard in 2018, with a time of 5:19.55 minutes.
During the record-setting lap on June 3, Dumas averaged a speed of 204.96km/h, reaching a top speed of 273km/h. He experienced centrifugal forces equating to roughly three and a half times his own body weight while cornering – measuring instruments on board recorded up to 3.49G, a point at which Dumas’ head weighed more than 20kg.
If you were wondering how professional drivers prepare for that experience, Dumas simulates the sensation by fitting an old helmet with weights and wearing it in his basement gym.
It’s not the first record racked up by the ID. R, it has also smashed the records for the Goodwood Festival of Speed Hillclimb and the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb, although the car was subsequently modified for its Nürburgring blast.
The wild ID. R prototype features two electric motors, located at each axle, that produce a combined 507kW and 649Nm. It also weighs just under 1100kg.
Volkswagen is enthusiastically touting their electric vehicle development as they ready the ID. range of EVs for production. The first production ID. vehicle, the ID.3 hatchback, will reach European showrooms next year, though orders first opened in May.
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