Watch the Volkswagen ID.R drive the fastest all-electric lap around the Nurburgring

A Green-vehicle story for car shoppers concerned with fuel economy, hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles and CO2 emission.

Jun 13, 2019; Thirty-six years ago, one of the world’s fastest race cars – a Porsche 956 – tore around the 12.9 miles of the Nürburgring Nordschelife race track in a scant 6 minutes, 11.13 seconds. That record stood for more than three decades as an ultimate testament to power, engineering and skill, only falling to an experimental Porsche last year that was custom-built for the task.

Last Monday, that record was surpassed for the second time – by an all-electric car.

The Volkswagen ID.R electric race car that set a record for climbing Pikes Peak last year now owns the record for fastest electric car around the Nürburgring. Driver Romain Dumas made the lap in 6:05.336 minutes beating the previous EV record set in 2017 by 40.564 seconds – and in the process, surpassing every fossil-fuel powered record at the track save one.

“To be a record-holder on the Nordschleife makes me unbelievably proud,” says Dumas. “For me, this is the best and most difficult race track in the world. The ID.R was perfectly prepared for the Nordschleife and it was so much fun to experience the blistering acceleration and rapid cornering speeds.”

With a redesigned aerodynamic package meant to maximize the 670-hp ID.R’s top speed, Dumas averaged 127.36 mph around the course. As you can see from the video below, at that speed the Green Hell becomes a frightening blur of hills and curves.