Rimac Nevera - A Shock To The Status Quo

When it comes to all-electric and hybrid power trains, this hypercar is a shock to the status quo.

- Ben Oliver

With twice the power of a Formula 1 car, the ability to hit 100km/h in under two seconds and a US$2.4 million sticker price, the new Rimac Nevera should intimidate even an experienced hypercar owner. Yet the automaker’s 33-year-old founder, Mate Rimac, intended his masterpiece to be a highly usable, no-fuss grand tourer. So which is it: Hyde or Jekyll? The answer from behind the wheel, amazingly, is both.

The Nevera is the world’s fastest-accelerating production car, but even such prodigious brute force is the result of sophisticated engineering. Rimac’s expertise in high-performance electric drivetrains is such that Porsche made a sizable investment in the company in 2018. In July, Porsche’s parent company, the Volkswagen Group, gave the Croatian upstart controlling interest in storied French marque Bugatti, helping ensure that the carmaker famous for 1,000-plus hp W16 engines has a future in the electric era. The new brand is called Bugatti-Rimac.