EV party at Pikes Peak

Probably it’s because of the drivers or because of the spiced up machines, but one thing is certain: you can’t deny that the electric supercars had a major victory at the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb.

Rhys Millen, a well-known multitask driver because of his Formula D and Global Rallycross Championship achievements, drove the eO PP03 prototype, setting a time of 9:07.022, against the 9:32.401 time set by another electric car, the Rimac e-Runner Concept One, driven by multiple PPIHC winner Nobuhiro “Monster”  Tajima. The first overall internal combustion engine finisher appeared only four seconds behind Tajima.

Both the PP03 and the e-Runner were made to blow minds, as almost any car prepared to the tough American hillclimb classis, but these two made the “blow minds” words go to another level, as  not only their shape, but their specs are pretty awesome.

The eO PP03 is and all-wheel drive car with six electric Motors powered by a 50 kwh lithium-ion battery, all of this delivering 1020 kilowatts of Power, equivalent to approximately 1368 horsepower. To help you think of how awesome is this, na FIA World Endurance Championship hybrid LMP1 car deliver a little below this figure with and internal combustion engine and one or two energy recovery systems.

In comparision, the Rimac e-Runner hás 4 electric Motors controlled by torque vectoring system that does 100 adjustments per second. Along with that, the Japanese-Croatian electric monster delivers 1475 horsepower via drive chain system, ditching the use of gearboxes or diferentials. The e-Runner can do 0 to 100 kph in 2.2 seconds, which is as fast as a Formula 1 pit-stop.

Unfortunately, both runs weren’t trouble-free, which could have meant a faster time. Millen made almost the entire run with the front propulsion only because of a software error that left him without the rear Motors. Tajima had a mechanical brake problem, but according to Electric Autosport, Tajima was pretty happy that the systems worked well and that he was able to beat his 2014 time by 11 seconds.

Millen’s time was nowhere near the absurd 8:13.878 record time that Sebastien Loeb did with his Peugeot 208 T16 in 2013, but to think all-electric cars can overcome petrol-powered ones, this gives us hope that electric motorsport scenario can grow more in the years to come.

PHOTOS: Rimac Automobili, Drive eO