Monster Sport E-RUNNER Pikes Peak Special

If there is an entire institution of the Pikes Peak hill climb, there is no doubt that Nobuhiro “Monster” Tajima is its most prominent figure. The driver holds the course record, set in 2011. This Japanese driver never ceases to amaze us, now with the electric vehicle he will use this year to defend the record for the climb up the fearsome North American mountain.

We already knew that Tajima was going to use an electric car, but now we have images of the Monster Sport E-RUNNER Pikes Peak Special, an electric machine with a very peculiar nickname, which should handle the loss of power that petrol engines suffer due to the altitude of Pikes Peak much better.

The car was built by Team APEV, the English acronym for Association for the Promotion of Electric Vehicles, and it is a far cry from the Suzuki SX4 he used last year. We could almost say it is a kind of electric Batmobile, which this year will have to tackle a course that has been completely paved (the final section used to be dirt) for the occasion.

It will not be the only electric car taking part in the race, as there will be others, and the number of competitors keeps growing. For next year, the competition days are planned to be two, with three times the number of entrants registered.