Lifestyle
Why electric vehicles will continue to dominate Pikes Peak after record-shattering run
The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb happens every June in Colorado, sending cars from the base of Pikes Peak up to its top in an arduous climb to a 14,000 feet elevation. The speeds gained are not spectacular by today’s racing standards, but the climb itself is a mixture of brute power and endurance like no other race in the world.
Climbing Pikes Peak even on a normal day is not easily done. Most production vehicles will struggle to get to the summit and many will fail to do so. That’s under standard driving conditions on what is now a fully-paved roadway. The reasons for this are many, but boil down to altitude, the uphill grade, and the huge number of curves in the 12.42-mile road into the clouds.
This year, the Pikes Peak IHC record was blasted through by an electric car. Not for the first time, but so definitively that it’s considered a huge milestone. The car was a Volkswagen purpose-built design whose name specifies what it’s for: the I.D. R Pikes Peak. Meant to showcase the electrification efforts of VW’s new I.D. brand, the car was built specifically to make the Pikes Peak hill climb as quickly as possible. The engineering behind the car is amazing.
Before we talk about that, though, an understanding of what’s at stake at Pikes Peak and how difficult this race really is should be had.
About the Hill Climb
The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb has been the go-to endurance race for high-altitude automotive for over a century. As the second-oldest race in the United States, the Pikes Peak IHC starts at mile marker 7 on the Pikes Peak Highway and runs right up to the top of the roadway’s end 12.42 miles up. There are 156 turns going up the mountain and driver and vehicle gain nearly 5,000 feet in altitude during the climb. The highest point in the race reaches into the sky to over 14,000 feet above sea level.
This amount of climb at that altitude poses significant challenges for race teams. The thin air means less oxygen for driver and machine, sapping performance considerably. With combustion engines, it means less oxygen for the combustion process. With electrics, it often means less cooling for the batteries and components. Most performance electric vehicles can use significant amounts of energy cooling batteries, which heat up quickly during high-performance driving. Components like electric motors and controllers can similarly have performance drain from heat.
Thus taking a Tesla Model X P100D to Pikes Peak, for example, might be a walk in the park under normal driving conditions, suffering nothing more than a significantly lowered range due to the amount of hill climbing involved. Yet trying to race that X up to the Peak will result in the vehicle overheating and entering limp mode early in the run.
Since 2011 when the Pikes Peak Highway was completely paved, most vehicles, whether electric or not, have been able to make the climb under normal conditions if driven leisurely.
Why Electrics Dominate Pikes Peak
The roadblocks for an EV climbing Pikes Peak versus a combustion-powered vehicle in the same race, are far fewer. With the problems of weight versus range having been conquered for some time, the issue of power delivery versus thermal management is the focus.
One of the first electric vehicles to make headlines for its Pikes Peak International Hill Climb run was the Drive eO PP03. Its race time, an impressive 9 minutes, 7.22 seconds, however, was not the reason it was noticed. It was noticed because it was an electric car piloted by rally champion and well-known Pikes Peak racer Rhys Millen. And the PP03 beat the expected EV winner, Nobuhiro Tajima, by over 20 seconds.
Since then, an EV has made headlines in every Pikes Peak race. None, until this year, have beaten the 2013 record set by Sebastian Loeb in a specially-modified Peugeot 208. That record, at 8 minutes and 57 seconds, was compared to how long it takes to fly a helicopter, vertically, from the base to the summit.
That record is no more. Thanks to Volkswagen.
The Volkswagen I.D. R Pikes Peak
This specially-built racer was designed, engineered, tested, and raced in only eight months from start to finish. The car set a Pikes Peak Challenge time of just 7 minutes, 57.148 seconds and its engineers say that if conditions had been perfect on race day, it could have made it even faster. Driver Romain Dumas agreed with that assessment. He also said that the race to the summit is far tougher than an entire 24 Hours of Le Mans run.
The secret is in the battery balance of size, weight, and power delivery. There are two battery packs, each running alongside the driver at the center of the chassis. Each pack powers an electric motor. The entire vehicle weighs under 2,500 pounds and produces 670 horsepower of output. It’s 0-60 mph time is 2.2 seconds, faster than a Formula 1 car, and it can sustain that kind of power output for the duration of its charge. Without becoming crippled by heat.
Rather than add weight- and power-expensive cooling, Volkswagen chose to leave the batteries without thermal management. Instead, airflow around and through the car is critical to its success. The bodywork of the I.D. R Pikes Peak is designed in a way similar to Sprint and Formula race cars, aimed towards managing airflow carefully in order to maximize performance capability. Where a combustion-powered car would direct airflow into the engine through ducting and around the engine for cooling, the I.D. R instead focuses airflow around the batteries and components for maximum cooling (even at thin-air altitudes). It also maximizes airflow around the wheels, as per a Formula car, to maximize downward thrust and improve traction for both straightaways and corners.
This was coupled with a design made specifically for the Pikes Peak climb. The course is just over 12 miles long, so the batteries were sized and formulated to give enough power to run full-throttle for about 13 miles. Cell chemistry is designed to store maximum power and then deliver it at high volume for a sustained amount of time. Unlike production car batteries, of course, VW’s batteries in the I.D. R Pikes Peak don’t have to meet production-level warranty requirements or cycle lifespans.
By perfectly balancing the car’s aerodynamics, cooling flow, battery size, weight distribution, and power delivery, the VW team was able to shatter the previous record for the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. It’s likely that this record will remain for some time.
Going forward, it’s clear that the advantages electric vehicles have in a race like the Pikes Peak IHC are many and most of the roadblocks towards keeping them out of the running are now surmounted. Combustion engines may continue to win this particular race, on occasion, but it’s very unlikely that they’ll dominate from here on out. For perspective, Rhys Millen, who previously won the EV record, was driving a Bentley SUV with a 12-cylinder engine and took almost 11 minutes to finish the race.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0c3ndL0mSAQ
Elon Musk
Tesla Optimus Gen 3 is coming to the Tesla Diner with new ambitions
Tesla’s Optimus robot left the Hollywood Diner within months of opening. Now Musk is planning its return with a bigger role and a major Gen 3 upgrade underway.
![Tesla Optimus Gen 3 [Credit: Tesla]](https://www.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/tesla-optimus-gen3-diner.jpg)
Tesla’s Optimus robot was one of the most talked-about features when the Tesla Diner opened on Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood on July 21, 2025. Dubbed “Poptimus” by Tesla fans, the Gen 2 robot stood upstairs at the retro-futuristic, drive-in theater and Tesla Supercharging station, scooping popcorn into bags and handing them to guests with a wave.
The diner itself had been years in the making. Elon Musk first floated the idea in 2018 with a tweet about building an “old-school drive-in, roller skates & rock restaurant” at a Hollywood Supercharger. What eventually opened was a unique two-story neon-lit space, with 80 EV charging stalls, and Optimus serving as a live demonstration of where Tesla’s ambitions were headed.
If our retro-futuristic diner turns out well, which I think it will, @Tesla will establish these in major cities around the world, as well as at Supercharger sites on long distance routes.
An island of good food, good vibes & entertainment, all while Supercharging! https://t.co/zmbv6GfqKf
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 21, 2025
But Optimus did not stay long, and was gone by December 2025.
Now, the robot is set to return with a more demanding job. Musk has ambitions for Optimus to take on a food runner role in 2026, delivering meals directly to cars at the Supercharger stalls. While the latest Gen 3 Optimus is likely to initially take on its previous popcorn-serving role, it wouldn’t be out of the question for Optimus to see a quick promotion. With improved hand dexterity that features 50 total actuators and 22 degrees of freedom per hand, and significantly more powerful processing through Tesla’s latest AI5 chip that includes Grok-powered voice interaction, Musk described Optimus at the Abundance Summit on March 12, 2026, as “by far the most advanced robot in the world, Nothing’s even close.”
Back to work
See you at Tesla Diner tomorrow pic.twitter.com/H3tTajrUbu
— Tesla Optimus (@Tesla_Optimus) March 30, 2026
That confidence is backed by a major manufacturing shift. At the Q4 2025 earnings call in January, Musk announced Tesla would discontinue the Model S and Model X and convert those Fremont production lines to build Optimus. “It’s time to basically bring the Model S and X programs to an end,” he said, calling for a pivot that reflects where the Tesla’s future lies.
Elon Musk
The Boring Company clears final Nashville hurdle: Music City loop is full speed ahead
The Boring Company has cleared its final Nashville hurdles, putting the Music City Loop on track for 2026.
The Boring Company has cleared one of its most significant regulatory milestones yet, securing a key easement from the Music City Center in Nashville just days ago, the latest in a series of approvals that have pushed the Music City Loop project firmly into construction reality.
On March 24, 2026, the Convention Center Authority voted to grant The Boring Company access to an easement along the west side of the Music City Center property, allowing tunneling beneath the privately owned venue. The move follows a unanimous 7-0 vote by the Metro Nashville Airport Authority on February 18, and a joint state and federal approval from the Tennessee Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration on February 25. Together, these green lights have cleared the path for a roughly 10-mile underground tunnel connecting downtown Nashville to Nashville International Airport, with potential extensions into midtown along West End Avenue.
Music City Loop could highlight The Boring Company’s real disruption
Nashville was selected by The Boring Company largely because of its rapid population growth and the strain that growth has placed on surface infrastructure. Traffic has become a persistent problem for residents, convention visitors, and airport travelers alike. The Music City Loop promises an approximately 8-minute underground transit time between downtown and the Nashville International Airport (BNA), removing thousands of vehicles from surface roads daily while operating as a fully electric, zero-emissions system at no cost to taxpayers.
The project fits squarely within a broader vision Musk has championed for years. In responding to a breakdown of the Loop’s construction costs, Musk posted on X: “Tunnels are so underrated.” The comment reflected a longstanding belief that underground transit represents one of the most cost-effective and scalable infrastructure solutions available. The Boring Company has claimed it can build 13 miles of twin tunnels in Nashville for between $240 million and $300 million total, a fraction of what comparable projects cost elsewhere in the country.
Image Credit: The Boring Company/Twitter
The Las Vegas Loop, The Boring Company’s first operational system, has served as a proof of concept. During the CONEXPO trade show in March 2026, the Vegas Loop transported approximately 82,000 passengers over five days at the Las Vegas Convention Center, demonstrating the system’s capacity during large-scale events. Nashville draws millions of convention visitors and tourists each year, and local business leaders have pointed to that same capacity as a major draw for supporting the project.
The Music City Loop was first announced in July 2025. Construction began within hours of the February 25 state approval, with The Boring Company’s Prufrock tunneling machine already in the ground the same evening. The first operational segment is targeted for late 2026, with the full route expected to be complete by 2029. The project represents one of the largest privately funded infrastructure efforts currently underway in the United States.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s $10 Trillion robot: Inside Tesla’s push to mass produce Optimus
Tesla’s surging Optimus job listings reveal a company sprinting from prototype to one million robot production.
Tesla is accelerating its push to bring the Optimus humanoid robot to high volume production, and its recent job listings tells the story as clearly as any earnings call.
With well over 100 Optimus related job openings now posted across its U.S. facilities, Tesla is signaling a critical pivot for the program, moving it from a captivating tech demo to a serious manufacturing endeavor. Roles span the full spectrum of the product lifecycle, from Robotics Software Engineers and Manufacturing Engineers to Mechanical Integration Engineers and AI Engineers focused on world modeling and video generation. One active listing for a Software Engineer on the Optimus team asks candidates to build scalable and reliable data pipelines for Optimus manufacturing lines and develop automation tools that accelerate analysis and visualization for mass manufacturing.
Tesla is racing toward a one million unit annual production target. The clearest signal yet that Tesla is treating Optimus as its primary business came on January 28, 2026, during the company’s Q4 2025 earnings call. Musk announced that Tesla is ending production of the Model S and Model X, and will repurpose those lines at its Fremont, California factory to build Optimus humanoid robots.
A production intent prototype of Optimus Version 3 is planned to be ready in early 2026, after which Tesla intends to build a one million unit production line with a targeted production start by the end of 2026. To support that ramp, Tesla broke ground on a massive new Optimus manufacturing facility at Gigafactory Texas in late 2025, with ambitions to eventually reach 10 million units per year.
Tesla Giga Texas to feature massive Optimus V4 production line
The business case for scaling this aggressively is rooted in labor economics. Musk has stated that “Optimus has the potential to be the biggest product of all time,” reasoning that if Tesla can produce capable humanoid robots at scale and reasonable cost, every task currently performed by human labor becomes a potential application. In a separate statement, Musk framed Optimus’s long term importance even more bluntly, saying it could surpass Tesla’s vehicle business in scale with the potential to generate $10 trillion in revenue.
The industries Tesla is targeting first are those most burdened by repetitive physical labor. Early applications include manufacturing assembly, material handling and quality inspection, as well as logistics tasks like loading, unloading, sorting, and transporting goods in warehouses and distribution centers. Longer term, Tesla’s vision is for Optimus to penetrate household, medical, and logistics scenarios at the scale of a smartphone rollout.
![Tesla Optimus Gen 3 [Credit: Tesla]](https://www.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/tesla-optimus-gen3-diner-80x80.jpg)
Tesla Optimus Gen 3 is coming to the Tesla Diner with new ambitions
Musk forces Judge’s exit from shareholder battles over viral social media slip-up
Elon Musk has generous TSA offer denied by the White House: here’s why
Elon Musk says Tesla is developing a new vehicle: ‘Way cooler than a minivan’
Elon Musk launches TERAFAB: The $25B Tesla-SpaceXAI chip factory that will rewire the AI industry
