First look at Rimac’s R33m all-electric Nevera hypercar

A Croatian manufacturer backed by Porsche has unveiled an electric hypercar with big claims for speed and power.

On Tuesday, Rimac Automobili announced the Nevera, the production version of the C Two electric concept car that Rimac debuted at the Geneva Motor Show in 2018. The name of the new car refers to a quick, powerful, and unexpected lightning storm that races across the Mediterranean Sea off the Croatian coast.

“This is it,” said Rimac founder and CEO Mate Rimac of the C Two in a press statement. “This is the car I had in mind when I embarked on the impossible journey 10 years ago.”

Rimac said his eponymous company will deliver 150 units of the $2.4m (roughly R33,100,632) hypercar, starting this year. He said the car will have 1,427kW and 2,360Nm of torque.

With butterfly-style doors, aggressive air diffusers, and an air intake shaped like a cravat along each side, the Nevera combines many design elements found in other electric and hybrid hypercars like the Pininfarina Battista, Lotus Evija, and Koenigsegg Gemera. It also incorporates well-proven technologies like lightweight, forged alloy wheels, Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes, and an active rear wing. Inside, the cockpit has room for two, digital screens predominate, with only essential functions left to tactile controls.

New details provided by Rimac claim that the Nevera would beat virtually all comers in performance tests during a period of upheaval in the supercar world. According to Rimac, it will go from 0-100km/h in 1.85 seconds and reach a top speed of 415km/h. By comparison, the $3.6m (roughly R49,630,824) Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport does 0-100km/h in 2.3 seconds; the $1.8m (roughly R24,815,412) Koenigsegg Gemera hybrid is expected to reach the mark in 1.9 seconds.

A spokesperson said the company would not vie for the top-speed title but did not say it wouldn’t go for a fastest-acceleration record.

“We are already the fastest-accelerating production car in the world ... we just haven’t had it officially measured by any organisation,” he said in an e-mail, referring to a pre-production prototype Nevera that ran an 8.6-second quarter-mile last week “without launch control and with about 90-95% full power”.

The world record for top speed in a production car belongs to the $1.9m (roughly R26,203,071) SSC Tuatara, which hit an average top speed of 455.28km/h in the desert earlier this year.

The announcement comes soon after news that Porsche had agreed to buy more of the Zagreb, Croatia-based company and had already placed its first orders with Rimac to develop hi-tech components. Porsche will invest €70m (roughly R1,158,451,560) to raise its stake in Rimac to 24%, from 15%, the German manufacturer said on March 8. Insiders have said the move could pave the way for parent Volkswagen AG to spin its ultra-luxury French Bugatti brand into a joint venture between Porsche and Rimac.

Meanwhile, the 12-year-old Croatian company has been expanding operations at the manufacturing facility where it will build most of the components for the Nevera. In April, it announced it would build a €200m (roughly R2,758,304,000) campus capable of accommodating 2,500 employees, up 1,500 from the 1,000 who now work at headquarters. Rimac develops high-performance electric drivetrains and battery systems for customers that include Aston Martin, Porsche, Pininfarina, Hyundai, Kia, Koenigsegg, and Renault.

Production on the Nevera has already begun, the spokesperson said. Deliveries will start by the end of 2021.

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