Team Yokohama Returns with EV to Pikes Peak

Team Yokohama, the Yokohama Rubber racing team, will once again enter an electric vehicle in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb event. This year the event will take place on Sunday, June 27, and the Yokohama crew is referring to it as the “Team Yokohama EV Challenge”. The company’s entry into the hill climb, or “Challenge”, is viewed by Yokohama Rubber as part of its efforts to meet its environmental responsibilities.

A principle aim of Yokohama’s participation is to spread recognition of the current state of electric vehicle technology and its potential, as well as to develop electric vehicle tyres for use in severe off-road conditions. This will be the second year in which Yokohama has entered the race. In its debut last year, the team turned in the second-best performance ever for an electric vehicle. Having fully reviewed, redesigned and overhauled the vehicle’s chassis, battery and motor, Yokohama says it is setting its sights this year on a new record.

The Yokohama team’s racing car is equipped with a lithium-ion battery from Sanyo Electric and an AC Induction Motor from American AC Propulsion. It will be driven again this year by Ikuo Hanawa, whom Yokohama describes as a “skilled performer in world-class off-road races”, and will be equipped with prototype next-generation tyres. These will, says Yokohama, demonstrate “stability on any kind of road surface and with additional environmental benefits stemming from reduced rolling resistance.”

Begun in 1916, the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb involves a 20 kilometre race to the 4,301 metre summit from the 2,862 metre start line. The race is famous for the severity of its conditions: rapidly changing temperatures and weather, a combination of tarmac and gravel surfaces, and 156 curves.