The Rimac name might not ring a bell for all in the automotive space. Apart from a famous motoring journalist whose name begins with R and ends with ichard Hammond – and his fateful accident in the Concept_One – the brand has been thrown into the automotive limelight. Thankfully, Welt Documentary takes a detailed look at what makes the Croatian automaker tick in its latest YouTube video.
The company has set up shop in what was previously labeled as automotive no-mans-land in Croatia’s capital city of Zagreb. From humble beginnings, Rimac has grown from a passion project to an industry icon with over 700 employees in the span of just a decade.
Sure, Rimac is currently a key player in the electric supercar market, but things used to be different. Founder and CEO Mate Rimac was Born in Bosnia where cars were almost non-existent, but after war struck his homeland, he and his family fled to Germany – a fitting place for his automotive passion to begin. Rimac said it himself that from a very young age, he had an affinity for cars.
The journey began when the internal combustion engine in his 1984 BMW 3 Series decided to let go. Instead of doing the sensible thing and replacing the engine, Rimac converted the Bimmer into an electric race car to take on gas-powered competitors. After setting multiple FIA and Guinness World Records, there was clearly some momentum behind the idea.
“I wanted to show that electric cars don’t have to be slow, boring, and ugly,” said Rimac Founder and CEO Mate Rimac.
After surviving some tough times the Croatian automaker is now able to build everything in-house, meaning they can create an automobile with unparalleled precision. Sure, this has turned into a bit of an automotive buzz-phrase, but it’s clear that not outsourcing production provides many advantages when it comes to building an electric supercar. Having control over every process means that components can be optimized to put out unparalleled performance.
When you see the numbers the C_Two puts down, it’s clear that these guys are doing things properly themselves. The vehicle’s four electric motors put out a total of 1,914 horsepower (1,427 kilowatts) which propels it to 62 miles per hour (100 kilometers per hour) in just 1.85 seconds and to an eventual electronically limited top speed of 256 mph (412 km/h). Along with producing these ridiculous numbers, it’s clear that the company isn’t just a collection of people with big foreheads squashed in a laboratory. Rimac is clearly here to go fast and have fun.
In just a decade, the Croatian automaker has built partnerships with automotive top brass from the likes of Aston Martin, Porsche, and Hyundai. With these connections, there’s no telling what Rimac will be able to accomplish in the next decade but one thing’s for certain. The future looks shockingly fast.
