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VW teases its Pikes Peak EV Racer

Climbing a mountain to rise above a scandal. Volkswagen would very much like to put the diesel scandal behind it, and while we won't forget, this teaser image of a new Pikes Peak race car is the latest in the company's rebranding as an EV company. Everything is focused on electrification lately, and that's good, we suppose, for a few reasons. EVs are inherently clean (at least from the consumer end; where you get your electricity from and where VW will get its raw materials from are a broader, more philosophical question), and the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is a damn cool motorsport event.

Setting and context aside, the EV hillclimb special looks a bit like some other electric racers that've tackled the hill in the past. There's lots of aero, including a huge rear wing and deep, wide front splitter. It's in the mold of the compact, muscular Rimac E-Runner Concept One of "Monster" Tajima from a few years back, given the contemporary VW styling treatment.

The last time Volkswagen competed at Pikes Peak? 1987, when the wild twin-engined, turbocharged Golf you see in the video above. It was fast and sounded crazy, but it also broke. So it's consigned to the footnotes of an announcement like this, sadly.

This EV will race in 2018. Maybe it'll fare better than its predecessor, but the more important thing is whether this new motorsport program moves the needle in raising awareness of VW's EV focus (and secondarily, if the data from the program improves the breed). We'll see next June.
