Megawatt electric race car chases prestigious motorsport title
Think Tesla's top-of-the-line, dual-motor-equipped P85D electric car is fast? Think again. Drive eO, an electric and hybrid car specialist in Latvia, is developing a one megawatt electric race car to take on the prestigious Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in June. The all-wheel drive "eO PP03" runs on a 50 kWh lithium-ion battery pack and six YASA-400 electric motors, capable of producing 1020 kW (1368 horsepower) and speeds of up to 260 kmh (162 mph). Drive eO says it'll be the "first one megawatt all-electric race car," and while we're not sure that claim is strictly accurate, it still sounds like a beast on paper.
The company has entered the historic Colorado race twice before: once with an earlier "eO P001" electric supercar and last year with a modified Tesla Roadster. Before that, the team had been developing a custom off-roader, which eventually became the first electric vehicle to finish the Dakar Rally. The challenge now? To win the Pikes Peak title with the eO PP03. "We want to become the first overall winner with an electric vehicle," project director Kristaps Dambis says. We'll see how they fare in three months' time.
