Mitsubishi MiEV Evolution III obliterates Pikes Peak EV record

Greg Tracy and the Mitsubishi EV effort succeed with the help of an old-school Colorado hot-rod shop

 Murilee Martin 
Greg Tracy and the Mitsubishi MiEV Evolution III chopped more than 30 seconds off the PPIHC EV record time. 

While gasoline-powered cars still rule the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, as demonstrated last year by Sebastian Loeb's absurd 8:13.878 run and last weekend's 9:05.801 time by Romain Dumas, the electron-powered racers are catching up fast.

An electric motorcycle beat all the internal-combustion bikes in 2013, and this year two Mitsubishi electric race cars each hacked more than 30 seconds off the PPIHC EV record time, with Greg Tracy's 9:08.188 effort coming within a few seconds of Dumas' gasoline-fueled time.

 Murilee Martin
The Mitsubishi Pikes Peak EV effort does its work in an old-school hot-rod shop in Colorado Springs.

The image of a futuristic electric race car might suggest a setting of Tokyo clean rooms and somber technicians in bunny suits, but the pre-race preparation for the Mitsubishi MiEV Evolution III takes place in an old-timey (and very American) speed shop in Colorado Springs. Clarks Metal & Speed has been working with Mitsubishi in its PPIHC efforts for several years now.

 Murilee Martin
When the Mitsubishi MiEV Evolution III crew needs some fabrication work, Matt Clark is ready.

We've been dropping in to check out the Mitsubishi EV effort at Clarks Metal & Speed for the last few PPIHC races, and it's always interesting to see the juxtaposition of a billion-yen electric race car stuffed with computers against this cramped, old-school hot-rod shop full of Model A parts and girlie calendars.

Clarks Metal proprietor Matt Clark jumps in whenever the high-tech crew members from Japan need some fabrication or advice about the special demands of the nearby mountain.

 Murilee Martin
Here's a bit of Pikes Peak race history on the shop wall: body panels from Gary Kanawyer's wrecked 1993 racer.

Hanging on the wall at Clarks Metal & Speed, behind the pair of MiEV Evolution IIIs, these bits of PPIHC history: busted body panels from Gary Lee Kanawyer's open-wheeler, which crashed in dramatic fashion just before the finish line at the 1993 event, coming agonizingly close to breaking the overall record at the time.

 Murilee Martin
On the day before the race, final adjustments to the pair of MiEV Evolution IIIs.

If the times achieved during qualifying and practice runs were any indication, Mitsubishi drivers Hiroshi Masuoka and Greg Tracy knew they'd have a good shot at breaking Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima's 9.46.530 Pikes Peak EV record, set the previous year. Of course, they'd be competing against the Monster again in 2014 -- an ominous thought to contemplate as they buttoned up the car on the afternoon before the race.

 Murilee Martin
On race day, Tracy broke the PPIHC EV record by 38.3417 seconds.

On race day, Tracy's car whooshed up the hill in an astonishing 9 minutes, 8.188 seconds, knocking 38.3417 seconds off Tajima's record EV time and getting a tantalizing 2.387 seconds away from the top time set by Dumas. As an added bonus, Tracy became the first racer to get under 10 minutes with both two- and four-wheeled vehicles at Pikes Peak.

 Murilee Martin
Hiroshi Masuoka had the third-best overall time at the 2014 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.

Immediately after Tracy's record-breaking run, Masuoka zoomed to the summit in 9 minutes, 12.204 seconds. Just behind him, Tajima broke his own best electric PPIHC time with a 9:43.900. The numbers for the four course sections are telling; both Tracy and Masuoka ran the high-altitude third and fourth sections more quickly than Dumas had in his fossil-fuel-burning 2013 Norma, demonstrating the advantage that electric cars have over internal-combustion machines when oxygen gets more difficult to obtain.

 Mitsubishi Motors North America
Greg Tracy and Hiroshi Masuoka at the Pikes Peak summit.

The eight-minute barrier and fastest overall time to the top of Pikes Peak are the next big challenges for EV racers. Will 2015 be the year?