The frustration of trying to report the life and times of Mate Rimac, 35-year-old Croatian-born inventor of the acclaimed Nevera EV hypercar and architect of a forthcoming Bugatti renaissance, is that by the time he gets around to announcing something, it's already half-finished.
We meet in Rimac Technology's temporary office in an industrial estate outside Warwick, ostensibly to talk about his plan to expand into the UK. But to do it, we have to squeeze into a small room off the entrance hall - because the surrounding spaces are crammed with the 51 beavering British engineers he's hired already.
Ten miles away at Wellesbourne (we learn), there are "about 100" more engineers working on an autonomous project called P3 Mobility, whose existence Rimac hasn't even officially confirmed.
Anyone who meets him finds a friendly and candid person, amazingly generous with his time, but it's clear that to him, talking is nowhere near as good as doing.
Why the enthusiasm for British engineers, I ask. Croatia has great engineers, and so does Germany, which already has a Rimac outpost. "In Croatia, we have smart people, for sure, but not much experience," he says. "And I respect German engineers a lot, but most of them have worked in big, safe OEMs and haven't seen hard times. British engineers are different. They often have to do things quickly, on limited funds. That makes them resourceful. And they're more open to new stuff."
Since the autonomous P3 Mobility project has been confirmed in our conversation, I ask why it has needed to be secret. "Two reasons," he says. "One is the amount of hot air expended on this subject. So many promises are never delivered. We want to deliver before we talk. Two is that this is a tough project; plans change. If you announce something, changing gets difficult and we want to stay flexible."
Esta historia es de la edición January 11, 2023 de Autocar UK.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición January 11, 2023 de Autocar UK.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
The venomous nature of the Cobra
Last week, Matt Prior drove a totally new kind of AC Cobra. This is a car with one of the strongest allures of all - but also an incredibly complex and controversial history.
SKODA KAMIQ
A long getting-to-know-you trip to Spain reveals all
THE SEVEN-YEAR TITCH
Outgoing baby Jag is plush, practical and now eminently affordable
'Our time has come'
Honda may be late to the EV party, but a barrage of bold new battery-powered cars is on the way. JAMES ATTWOOD speaks to boss Toshihiro Mibe at its R&D base to find out what's in store
Lion kings
Plush, powerful four-door cars are an endangered species - and now Peugeot has called time on its latest, the 508 PSE. STEPHEN DOBIE compares it with its most significant ancestor, the 505 GTI
VOLKSWAGEN GOLF
Wolfsburg gives the lesser-known Golf PHEV a big-impact refresh
PORSCHE PANAMERA GTS
Stuttgart's latest 'bahnstormer targets driver appeal over outright punch
MERCEDES-AMG GT 63 PRO
Hardcore variant of V8 sports car engineered with track days in mind
TESLA REVEALS ROBOTAXI
Firm unveils Cybercab coupé and 20-seat Robovan in autonomy push
DACIA PLOTS AMBITIOUS EXPANDED EURO LINE-UP
Firm teases something different’ ahead of impending C-segment reveal