It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a hypercar! It’s the world’s fastest electric car! It’s Rimac Nevera!
Rimac is a Croatian carmaker company founded in 2009 by a 19-year-old in his garage. Mate Rimac was so successful that from its first employees in 2011 it went to more than 900 employees in 2020. Rimac also provides electric vehicle technologies and systems for many big names of the auto industry. Last year VW Group’s Porsche and Rimac announced a joint venture, called Bugatti Rimac, that incorporates the high-performance Bugatti brand as well as Rimac Automobili.
On 28th October, Rimac reported that its Nevera supercar hit a top speed of 412 kmh (256 mph), making it the fastest electric production car in the world. The record was previously held by the Porsche Taycan Turbo S, which finished the Nordschleife circuit 2 minutes faster (7:33) than its American competitor Tesla Model S Plaid.
Miro Zrnčević, Rimac’s chief test and development driver, said “To travel at 412 kph means traveling at a third of the speed of sound.” Nevera has four electric motors, 1,914 horsepower, and an ability to leap from 0–60 mph in less than two seconds.
“Simply achieving that alone in a road car is incredibly complex, but in Nevera we have created a car that can travel long distances on a single charge, can tackle tight and twisting race tracks and can drift as well as break straight-line speed records, both for acceleration and V-MAX.”
Miro Zrnčević
The Nevera costs just over $2 million and its production has been limited to 150 vehicles, from which Nico Rosberg, the former professional racing driver, took delivery of car number 1 in August 2022.
Tom Ford of Top Gear tested the early prototype in March 2020 and concluded: “it tastes good raw, even without the torque-vectoring wizardry. … But with a base car that shows this level of promise, and a company that focuses on fun rather than figures, this bodes well.” In its 2021 review of a pre-production vehicle, the automobile magazine praised the “head spinning performance, incredible tech, ultra-stiff chassis, engineering and build quality” but noted that the brakes need getting used to, giving it 9 out of 10.
Source: businessinsider.com
