Volkswagen ID.R Annihilates McLaren 720S in Drag Race

However, this drag race between the ID.3 and 720S hints at the future of motorsport.

As you may have heard, Volkswagen invested billions to develop an electric car platform. It's easy to dismiss the ID.R as just a racing billboard for the ID.3 and ID.4, which it is. However, there's a deeper meaning here.

You see, Volkswagen made a recent announcement that just about all its future motorsport efforts will be electric. That doesn't seem particularly important since the company isn't involved in any major series. However, the decision will soon blanket sub-brands like Porsche or Bentley, maybe even Ducati.

So is this ID.R any good? In short, we already know that it is since it set several types of records all over the world. It took over the Nurburgring, was modified for Pikes Peak and tackled the Tianmen Mountain hill climb in China.

However, Top Gear was granted access to this toy, which they made a part of their latest series. Test driver Chris Harris seems quite impressed with the raw performance of the battery-powered race car.

This short teaser shows them doing something that hasn't been attempted before, which is to drag race the ID.R against a production car. In this case, the EV gets lined up against the McLaren 720S.

At first glance, the race isn't that uneaven, with the ID.R producing 680 horsepower compared to the 720 hp of the British V8. However, the electric car claims a 0 to 100 kph (62 mph) time of about 2 seconds, so it's obviously quicker than anything currently on sale.

It's rumored that the performance battery technology that went into making this record-holding EV will soon find its way onto our roads. Volkswagen is reportedly talking to Porsche about a jointly-developed sports model, something that hasn't happened since the BlueSport got canceled.