Volkswagen prepares the ID.R for its Nurburgring record attempt

is readying its 680-horsepower ID.R special for a Nürburgring record run sometime this summer. Tests are taking place at the Paul Ricard racetrack near Marseille, France, to prepare the ID.R for the Green Hell challenge: The car must beat the

current record time of 6:45.90

, set in May 2017 by Peter Dumbreck in a NIO EP9. The targeted average speed around the track is 116 mph.

In a video shot at Circuit Paul Ricard, Volkswagen engineers explain how they plan to break the record. One of the key attributes is matching the battery size to the task at hand — there’s no need for the battery to be bigger or carry a greater charge than necessary for the lap. Make the battery too big, and its unneeded weight will negatively affect the car’s performance. There are rapid chargers at hand, able to top up the battery between runs in just 20 minutes, and it’s the kind of technology that

VW

will want to track-prove for later use in road cars. Regenerative brakes will contribute 20% of the needed charge.

As for electrified cars,

Porsche’s

919 Hybrid is

quite a bit faster at the Nürburgring Nordschleife

than Volkswagen is likely to reach with the ID.R; the 919 Hybrid Evo lapped the track last year in an incredible 5:19.546, about a minute and a half quicker than the NIO EP9. But when VW’s crew and Pikes Peak record holder Romain Dumas hit the track in early summer, who knows how quick their lap might be?