The Rimac Nevera, a next-generation all-electric hypercar available exclusively through H.R. Owen in the UK, has officially become the fastest accelerating car in the world. At the Famoso Raceway drag-strip in California, the Nevera – named for a type of ferocious Croatian storm – covered a standing quarter-mile in just 8.852 seconds
Its terminal speed as it crossed the quarter-mile marker was 167.51 mph. The previous production car quarter-mile record of 9.247 seconds was set by the electric Tesla Model S Plaid earlier this year, and the fastest combustion-engined time was set by the Bugatti Chiron Sport, which completed the run in 9.4 seconds.
With its Launch Control engaged – done by simply putting your left foot on the brake and flooring the accelerator – the Nevera prepared to unleash the full force of its 1,914hp powertrain through four separate electric motors. Having lifted a foot off the brake, the Nevera’s advanced control systems, Including Rimac All-Wheel Torque Vectoring 2, constantly monitored which wheels had the most grip, portioning out the power to minimize wheelspin and maximize acceleration as it launched down the strip. The run was completed on standard Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres.
Miroslav Zrnčević, test and development driver said: This was our first test on a VHT (glued) surface, so we did not know what to expect. At first we were hitting less than expected ¼ mile times (8,7 and 8,8 seconds) than we did on a normal, non-prepped surface in Europe. The track temperature was 65°C and we had to do some adjustments. Our traction control learns the surface on each run and adjusts the torques on the wheels. After some adjustments and different tire warm-up strategies we managed to get better results. Brooks helped with his experience of staging the car and we managed to set the world record for the fastest accelerating production car and also beat our own 1/4 mile record. Still, we are confident that the Nevera has much more to give and that we can go even quicker with more experience and testing on this kind of surface. We will be back
Rimac founder and CEO Mate Rimac said: “The Nevera is about so much more than speed. With the largest battery pack ever fitted to a production car, it can travel 340 miles on a single charge. With in-house-developed Rimac All-Wheel-Torque Vectoring 2, it’s as agile as it is fast, and with electrically adjustable dampers and active aerodynamics it’s comfortable and quiet on a cruise, and a performance machine on a track”.
Only 150 units of the Rimac Nevera will ever be built, with UK models only available through H.R. Owen Rimac. If you’d like to learn more about the Nevera, click here.
