The Nordschleife: A Challenging Track for Electric Cars

The Nordschleife, also known as the Nürburgring, is an unforgiving and undulating track that has earned it the nickname "the Green Hell". With 73 corners and over 20 kilometers of asphalt, it's a challenging circuit that requires a great deal of skill and precision to navigate. The track's high speed and variety of corners make it difficult for even experienced drivers to master, which is why Volkswagen has come to the Nordschleife with the goal of beating the outright electric record.

Volkswagen's IDR North Life Electric Car

The IDR North Life electric car is a highly capable vehicle that has already set several records on Pikes Peak. With its 500 kilowatt motor and over 40 kilowatt-hour battery pack, it's designed to provide plenty of power and energy for high-speed cornering. The car's charging time is just 20 minutes, but the team must also balance the battery to ensure optimal performance. Roman Dubuc, the driver behind the wheel, has experience with electric cars, having driven an ID.R on Pikes Peak in 2018.

The Nordschleife: A Unique and Challenging Track

As Dubuc put it, "the Nordschleife is a unique track that's not just about speed, but also about finesse". The track is not strictly a racing circuit, but rather a public road that has been closed to traffic for use by high-performance drivers. This means that there are no other cars on the track, which can be both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it allows Dubuc to push his car to its limits without worrying about safety or slowing down to let others pass. On the other hand, it requires him to be extremely focused and attentive at all times.

The First Run: A Record-Breaking Performance

Dubuc's first run on the Nordschleife was a remarkable achievement, with a lap time of just 6 minutes and 25 seconds. This shattered the previous record set by the ID.R on Pikes Peak, which had taken over six minutes to complete. The VW team is thrilled with Dubuc's performance, and they're already looking forward to his next run.

The Second Run: Fine-Tuning the Car

For Dubuc's second run, he made some adjustments to the car's settings in an attempt to fine-tune its performance. He also took the opportunity to learn more about the track and how to navigate it at high speeds. The results of this second run were equally impressive, with a lap time that was even faster than his first.

The Battery Management Challenge

One of the biggest challenges facing Dubuc on the Nordschleife is managing the car's battery. As he explained, "the battery management system is crucial to our performance. We need to make sure it's not too hot or too cold, and that we're using the right amount of energy for each corner." This requires a great deal of skill and experience, as well as a good understanding of how the car's systems work together.

The Top Speed Expectation

According to Dubuc, the team is expecting to reach speeds of around 250-260 kilometers per hour on the Nordschleife. However, he also noted that they haven't turned up the power as much as they want to yet, which suggests that there's still room for improvement.

The Record-Breaking Performance

And then it happened: Dubuc completed his final lap of the day with a time of 6 minutes and 12 seconds. This shattered the previous record by an astonishing 40 seconds, cementing the ID.R's place as the fastest electric car on the Nordschleife. The VW team is overjoyed with this result, which was made possible after nine months of preparation and just two days of testing at the track.

A Fantastic Performance

As Dubuc said, "I'm extremely proud of our team for their fantastic performance today. We've worked so hard to prepare the car for this moment, and it's great to see that all our efforts have paid off." The ID.R's record-breaking lap time is a testament to the team's skill and dedication, and it will undoubtedly be remembered as one of the greatest achievements in electric car racing history.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthe green hell that was the nickname that Jackie Stewart a Scottish racing driver gave this place the Nordschleife the nürburgring nordschleife is an unforgiving undulating track over seventy three corners and over 20 kilometers that is very hard to learn and still to this day challenges many people I'm talking of challenges that's exactly what Volkswagen have come here to do today they're testing to see if they can beat the outright electric record in this the car that smashed Pikes Peak at the end of 2018 the IDR north life is is really has a very high reputation for car for racecars and since we are here yes the track itself is very challenging because it has a high variety of speed of cornering speed also petrol management is a big challenge because there's a lost part of the track which is a high speed part the last bit cell hospital 13 here because he takes a lot of energy so we have to have enough power and energy available for this part it's a 500 kilowatt motor what's the size of the the battery pack so we have more than 40 kilowatt hours in the charging time is 20 minutes but then it's also you have to balance the battery we have to bring it to the right temperature so it will take more than 20 minutes just to be ready for going out again presumably Roma has to recharge himself because mentally it's an extremely challenging course is there if Roma we have a very very good driver who knows significant Gulliver I couldn't believe Pikes Peak could not believe the pace of that car I don't think many Americans could either well I know the track 100% you know I'm driving here for more than 10 years so for sure I know the place but at the end of the day more laps you do better you learn more quicker you are ok romance just been bolted in and strapped down the tower warm was over coming off in a second of course we don't mind they have a great driver here he had also appeared under one which is great and I think there will be doing it but it needs some adjustments definitely so I'm sorry here on the feeder line which takes you onto the Nordschleife just taste it'll come out any second it's weird because you realize it's so close to the public road and the Nordschleife here is actually not classed as a racetrack it's originally classes a toll road just ridiculous there's nothing that new occurring in the world you know it's like the Statue of Liberty or the Eiffel Tower that's unique you know you know normally can hear a lot of noise a lot of when you jump and land you know you always have some noise inside the car and so on now it's very smooth very quiet you see is quite surprising so you also have caught up it's a speed you know - your view - your vision but is yeah it's very interesting how does it feel driving an ad on the Ring compared to a piston car because soon your place hotel you have a lot of power so for that you arrive a lot faster on the next corner yeah compared what I am used to with a GT car here due to that you have to readapt a little bit your driving style you have a lot more downforce bigger tires so compared with GT cars that you go you can go on the kerb you can take all the curbs on this car not you know you have to avoid the curbs because of the groundcover sure how much faster is this than GT car I don't know it's probably a little bit the brakes a little ego yeah and it's the idea to get the outright electric record or go for the full record is there's a bit of a difference isn't there it's a huge difference so let them is is really outstanding our target is say electric record the idea is now back from its final test session for today the next time you see that car at this track it'll be the day that they try for the world record Monday the 3rd of June and a very very warm morning here at the Nurburgring it's t-shirt weather and yet the weather forecast is looking terrible there's thunder and lightnings you the IDR is being prepped as we speak to get it out on track as quickly as possible to capitalise on the weather conditions Roman dumar flew in from Lamar where he was testing last night so hopefully a walk world record for that electric car can be set today without the use of course of any of that not a pressure on one going one car crumbs there he goes on his shaved head I think the helicopters going to be hard push to keep that bearing the mind he was supposed to be doing just a shakedown and bearing in mind back in May 2017 the neoui p9 electric car set the record of six minutes 45 seconds we've just seen that six minutes 25 seconds so already 20 seconds quicker than the current world record this is the first run of the day run number one who knows what's going to happen in the next couple of hours if the weather holds up and the car stays consistent this is some low numbers we need to bring the battery a little bit on in to temperature and now of course when the car comes back we have to cool it down and then we start the process again what what top speed are you gonna expect from here we will do about 250 260 really ok they haven't really turned it up as much as they want to apparently and the conditions are still brilliant the choppers up is he gonna go better than 625 it's gonna appear on it six twelve six twelve clearly the VW team are really happy Romans come in round of applause six minutes 12 seconds run number two the IDR is sitting there calling down being charged up and checked ready for the next run you went out on the first run and smashed the record straight away on the shakedown wheelie on your noise it up we are learning a little bit more yeah now in thermofoil balance we found something very good I enjoy a lot of car now you enjoy now you won't enjoy it so much before yeah bye it was ok but now I have to say it was a first lab that I could really really push and I can feel that I was thought to be on the limit so for sure we not gain so much time anymore but it was a lot of fun the battery management the temperature management steps in now in try to get the best out of it over the whole distance because you mean you can be very good at 6 kilometers but at 9 you have to shut everything off because it's too hot just outright drag straight it's quite hard work for this car especially when it's warm weather and and Roma has to really bear that in mind the more you remix the Riv more you have covered in the car too fast I order it so flow is it strange for you not competing against another car no you know in our life you are dreaming to drive alone you know in to enjoy is a track ok now when you are doing the races here you always frustrating to get traffic and to pass slower car yeah so to be alone it's a just magic this is good this is not good this is incredible good ok ok keep gonna keep pushing today yes yeah we try one more one more time I think one more yeah for sure you know but we are here beautiful day nice cars so we have to try you know one thing is important of this track never lose the respect if you lose respect is going to have this for sure okay he's just on the last lap so we started off today but the 625 then he went down for 612 then he went down for 609 he's just on a 605 so absolutely destroyed they've the record by 40 seconds for outright electric fastest lap of the Nurburgring launched like that well very crass I mean what the team has done again and this nine months to prepare the car only with two days here at one and a half day testing at the beginning I think is a fantastic performance today and at 6:05 I think everyone can be really proud on itself\n"