Mitsubishi all-electric Pikes Peak run shows green and performance can go hand in hand.
If you want to show the world how fast electric cars can go, there is no better setting than the legendary Pikes Peak International Hill Climb event in Colorado of the US. Which is exactly what Mitsubishi did with its MiEV Evolution III race car.
The all-electric Mitsubishi MiEV Evolution III was able to complete the 12.42-mile course and its 156 corners in an impressive 9:08.188, as seen in the GTChannel YouTube video. Just two seconds separate the eco machine and the best run, earning driver Greg Tracy and the Japanese manufacturer second place overall.
Not only that, the blistering run earned the fourth fastest ever time recorded and first place in the Electric Modified class. Not bad for what is essentially an 19th-century invention and batteries strapped to a lightweight shell with wheels.
Credit is definitely owed to Tracy, who made the intense drive up the mountain look effortless (except for one corner). This is not a course you want to get wrong, as the huge drops to one side will attest. Such is the pace, you soon forget your typical engine note has been replaced by a supercharger-esque whine of electric motors.
The previous fastest electric vehicle record was 9:46.530 set by Nobuhiro Tajima in 2013. French Rally driver Sebastien Loeb currently holds the world record time of 8:13.878, smashing Rhys Millen’s 9:02.192. 2014’s winner in the Unlimited Class was Romain Dumas.
Anyway less talking, more action. Check out the video below and try not to be impressed. Then watch the winning run by Dumas to see how the gap between electric and combustion is closing faster than you might think.
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