In late March, Volkswagen published renderings of its 2018 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb competitor, the I.D. R, which it announced in October of last year. Sunday, the I.D. R as it will appear at June's race was displayed via live stream, and a press release with some of the car's specifications was issued—Volkswagen will keep knowledge of some of the car's capabilities for itself, so as to not leave potential competitors with performance benchmark targets.

The I.D. R is Volkswagen's first all-electric race car, and was developed with the aid of VAG's Porsche subsidiary.

"Porsche supported us in terms of aerodynamics in a consultative capacity," said Volkswagen's Mark Gillies, in an interview with The Drive. "The overall concept was developed at Volkswagen Motorsport and the expertise of Porsche Motorsport helped us to refine the bodywork. We also used their wind tunnel to confirm the concept."

Development started in August (when the company approved of the program) and will continue up until 10 days before race day at Pikes Peak. In the 55 days until then, testing at European racetracks such as Alès and the Col St. Pierre hillclimb will be conducted, followed by a tire trial with Michelin. Early next month, shipping to the United States will begin, for further testing at Pikes Peak prior to the race.