Image Source: Drive eO Flickr

The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb has been going on for quite some time; 93 years, to be exact. In the last few years, the hill climb event has seen more and more electric vehicles. Not all were greatly successful, but they sure prove a point.

This year, Rhys Millen piloted the eO PP03 to the finish line, setting a record time of 9:07.022, and beating out Monster Tajima by more than 20 seconds. However, Millen was still nearly one minute off of Sebastien Loeb’s record 2013 record time. This just goes to show that EVs have a great chance at setting records at Pikes Peak because of their versatility in high-altitude situations. Unlike an internal combustion engine, electric motors don’t have to worry about losing power as the altitude rises.

Millen’s car was built in Latvia and utilizes six electric motors, three on each axle, for a combined output of 1,368 hp and 1,593 pound-feet of torque at the wheels. You can bet that would be a good time up Pikes Peak! Unfortunately, it wasn’t all gravy for Millen and his eO PP03.

SQUIRREL!

“The run was flawless. The road was completely different than what we had in practice. There was an understeer in the chassis from the heat of the road, but unfortunately, we lost power to the rear motor pack,” explained Millen. “This is a four wheel-drive car and we lost power to the rear motors before half-way, which was very, very disappointing, but hey, we set a record, and I guess I should be putting a smile on my face, but we were 30 seconds off our target.”

Yes, Rhys Millen, you should smile because winning the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in an electric vehicle is monumental, especially for the manufacturer of the car. Hopefully we’ll see some more electric vehicles out at Pikes Peak next year setting some records.