Electric vehicles were the story at last year's Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, with the Rhys Millen-piloted eO PP03 beating out Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima's Rimac E-Runner Concept One for a 1-2 electric finish. Rimac is hoping to come out on top this year and will be teaming up with Tajima and his APEV team and Monster Sport once again. The E-Runner Concept One has been revised based on collected data and will look to switchback its way to victory.
Had it not been for blown brakes, Monster Tajima might have emerged victorious in the E-Runner Concept One last year. He did, after all, claim a speed record of 145 mph (233 km/h) through the speed trap and beat his previous personal record time by about 11 seconds for a 9:32.401 finish. But with big competition from Millen, who set an EV course record at 9:07.222, the mechanical issue proved too much to overcome.
It's a new year, though, and we're sure Rimac will spend extra time tuning and tweaking the braking system. The 2016 E-Runner is an evolution of last year's car, featuring improved aerodynamics, upgraded shocks and suspension geometry, new control software and revisions to the All Wheel Torque Vectoring system. That system controls the torque of each of the four motors up to 100 times per second to create optimal distribution based on steering angle, speed, longitudinal and lateral forces, yaw-rates and other variables. The car boasts 1.1 megawatt (1,475 hp) of power.
"We are happy to announce that we are going to attack the Pikes Peak again with Mr. Nobuhiro 'Monster' Tajima, one of Pikes Peak's legends," says Rimac chief Mate Rimac. "Last year's 2nd place was quite an achievement for us considering that it was the first time that we have participated and that we have lost the mechanical braking system during the race."
"We have learned a lot and collected terabytes of data that have helped us to improve our Torque Vectoring System and many other technologies we're working on. All our industrial clients have also benefited from this experience – the DNA of this great project can be found across different vehicles that we're developing for various large and small OEMs."
One such vehicle is the Concept S, a more powerful electric supercar concept revealed at this year's Geneva Motor Show.
So will the new E-Runner have what it takes to fend off the competition and take first? It'll only be a few days before we find out. Race week is underway, and the Hill Climb fires up this Sunday, June 26.
Source: Rimac Automobili