Tesla will make its racing debut this month at Pike's Peak, when a specially modified Tesla Roadster will race Monster Tajima's badass plug-in up the mountain at America's oldest and most historic off-road motorsports event!


After crashing out at last year's Pike's Peak International Hillclimb and destroying their bespoke, one-off PP01 prototype, the EV racers at Drive E0 are returning to all-electric action at this year's race - and they'll be bringing along a specially modified Tesla Roadster. A Tesla Roadster that's packing nearly 500 horsepower. That new racer, dubbed the Drive E0 PP02 (prototype 2, as it were), features modified rear axles powered by 360 kW (peak) twin-motor system and a 40 kWh lithium-ion battery pack. According to the team, the PP02 project is "aiming to validate the new components ahead of scaling them up for successive electric super car projects, which are already on the drawing board."


You can check out Drive E0's own take on their chances of success with their beefed-up Tesla Roadster by reading the official PP02 press release watching the team's promotional video (in Latvian ... I think?), below, and checking out the team's high-res photo gallery at the bottom of the page. Enjoy!


Drive E0 PP02 Tesla Roadster Takes on Pike's Peak

Electric motorsport specialists Drive eO are returning to the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on June 29 to test and develop their latest electric drive train system. The team has packaged it into a Tesla Roadster chassis, making the competitive debut in motorsport for Tesla. Drive eO has dubbed the project PP02 as it builds upon the team’s initial attempt at the iconic hill climb competition in 2013 with a prototype supercar eO PP01. The new car features a more modest specification with rear axle powered by 360 kW (peak) twin-motor system and a 40 kWh lithium-ion battery pack. The team is aiming to validate the new components ahead of scaling them up for successive electric supercar projects which are already on the drawing board. The 2014 edition of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb will see 72 drivers attempting the treacherous 20 km course to the summit at 4300 m. The overall victory is expected to be decided between the leading entries of Unlimited and Electric Divisions. These include Le Mans winner Romain Dumas (Norma M20), multiple Pikes Peak winner Nabuhiro Tajima (Monster Sport E-Runner), double Dakar rally winner Hiroshi Masuoka (Mitsubishi MiEV Evo III) and former Pikes Peak bike record holder Greg Tracy (Mitsubishi MiEV Evo III).

Tesla Roadster Race Car Photo Gallery







Source | Images: Drive EO, via TechVehi.