Meet the Rimac Nevera — an electric hypercar with a ridiculous amount of power, a breathtaking top speed and a price tag that puts it out of the reach of mere mortals.
Thanks to four electric motors, the Croatian-made EV will pack 1,914 horsepower and can go from 0-60 in just 1.85 seconds, with a top speed of 258 MPH. Its real party trick, however, is not its speed, but rather its charge rate: just 19 minutes of charge can give it 80% of its battery back.
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Rimac will only produce 150 examples of the four-motor Nevera in GT, Signature, Timeless, or Bespoke trim. But at $2.5 million, who could even afford it?
At the 2018 Geneva Motor Show, Croatian boutique automaker Rimac stunned the automotive enthusiast community when it unveiled the C_Two: a swoopy concept car with more than 1,900 all-electric horsepower. Since then, Rimac has been developing and refining its stunning show car into a production vehicle, which now wears the name Nevera.
That’s a Croatian word for a sudden, unexpected storm in the Mediterranean and a fitting description for the newest Rimac creation. The core of the Nevera is an H-shaped lithium/manganese/nickel battery filled with 6,960 cells that generate 1.4 MW of power, which is channeled through a single-speed gearbox at both axles and a permanent magnet electric motor connected to each wheel.
Output is 1,914 horsepower and 2,360 Nm (approximately 1,741 lb-ft) of torque. That makes the Nevera capable of bolting to 60 mph in only 1.85 seconds and blazing through the quarter mile in just 8.6 seconds. Rimac hasn’t released a trap speed, but it did state that the Nevera only needs 9.3 seconds to get to 186 mph, so whatever that exact speed happens to be, it’s fast.
So is the Nevera’s ability to fill up through its 500 kW charging system. According to Engadget, it can go from empty to 80% charge in 19 minutes, although finding the right infrastructure for doing that may be a challenge. Estimated range is 340 miles on the WLTP (Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure) cycle. Expect a different final figure from the EPA that’s substantially lower than the 620 miles Tesla is projecting for its upcoming Tesla Roadster 2022.
While the Nevera’s horsepower figure hasn’t changed since its concept car days, its aerodynamics are significantly different. Rimac tweaked the bodywork, splitters, air intakes and diffusers, and radiators to make the Nevera not only more aerodynamic, but better at keeping its key parts at the right temperatures.
To that end, the Nevera is 30% more efficient at cooling its powertrain and Brembo CCMR carbon-ceramic brakes at low speeds, and 34% more aero-friendly. In its super slippery “low drag” mode, the Nevera has a 0.3 coefficient of drag. When maximum traction is required, the “high downforce” setting increases downforce by 326%.
That’ll come in handy when Rimac releases its AI-powered Driving Coach feature through an over-the-air update in 2022. Running on the NVIDIA Pegasus operating system, Driving Coach culls the information from the Nevera’s 12 ultrasonic sensors, 13 cameras and six radars to provide drivers audio and visual guidance that will help them improve their steering, driving line and braking and acceleration points on a select list of tracks.
Only 150 well-heeled buyers will be able to discover the Nevera’s full performance capabilities. It’ll be available through Rimac’s network of 19 dealerships in major European, North American, Latin American, Middle Eastern and Asian cities and priced at approximately $2.44 million.
