Rimac Nevera supercar sets wild world record

A little known European car brand has torched the competition with a wild looking supercar that is leaving big names in its rear view mirror.

Who said electric cars can’t be fun.

Rimac has just created the world’s fastest zero-emissions production car.

Dubbed the Nevera, it has been clocked at 412km/h, which makes it the fastest electric car in the world.

Rimac is a new Croatia-based electric supercar upstart best known for building the Concept_One. One of only eight built was famously written off by former Top Gear host Richard Hammond during filming of The Grand Tour.

The Rimac Nevera is the world’s fastest electric car.

Miro Zrncevic, Rimac’s chief test and development driver says: “To travel at 412kph, or 258mph, means travelling at a third of the speed of sound. Simply achieving that alone in a road car is incredibly complex.”

Rimac smashed the competition.

The Tesla Model S can reach speeds of up 348km/h and the Lotus Evija can hit bout 321km/h.

The Nevera is also the world’s fastest accelerating production car in the world. It recorded a quarter mile sprint of 8.582 seconds in 2021.

It reached speeds on 412km/h on a special testing track.

The record breaking run was achieved at the Automotive Testing Papenburg proving ground in Germany.

The high-speed track is oval shaped with two 4km long straights.

The Rimac has four electric motors – one powering each wheel – that combine for a mind-bending 1408kW and 2360Nm. To put those outputs in perspective that is roughly equal to the same outputs as 12 Toyota Corollas combined.

Rimac claims the car can sprint from 0-100km/h in just 1.85 seconds and reach 300km/h in 9.3 seconds.

It has wold looks to match its performance.

A giant 120kWh battery means the Rimac has a claimed driving range of about 550km but it can only travel at its top speed for a few minutes before the battery is depleted.

Huge regenerative brakes can recoup at a maximum rate of up to 300kW, which is similar to the fastest superchargers in the world.

A mass of aerodynamic features help keep the supercar glued to the ground and as slippery as possible.

Rimac is set to build only 150 examples of the Nevera and each will cost more than €2m (A$3.06m) before taxes.

But if you’ve managed to squirrel away a small fortune to buy the Nevera don’t expect to be able to hit 412km/h. The examples delivered to customers will be electronically limited to 352km/h.

Rimac has impressed some big players in the industry. Porsche signed up as an investor in the start-up and created a new joint venutre with Bugatti.

The fastest overall production car crown belongs to the SSC Tuatara, an American built supercar that was clocked at 508km/h — smashing the previous record of about 488km/h set by the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+.

The Tuatara’s actual top speed was 532km/h, but the official record is made up of an average of two timed runs, one in each direction to account for wind resistance.

The mind-melting speed record was achieved on a closed section of highway in Nevada, outside of Las Vegas. It’s the same place the European-made Koenigsegg Regara RS set its 447km/h record back in 2017.