Neither German, nor Japanese, nor Italian: this is the sports car that breaks all speed records

The new beast of the automotive industry. Ever since electric cars started appearing with the possibility of having more than a thousand horses the great speed records began to fall.

Gone are the days of big combustion engines, which required big engineering work to blast on the track. With electric drives, installed on each wheel or each axle, the power surged forward and it’s no surprise that the world’s most famous circuits have started to hang posters of these new super sports cars.

The layout of the Nürburgring, the most emblematic of the whole planet in it’s time to set records saw how in 2019 the Porsche Taycan Turbo became the fastest production electric car in the world, covering the 20.5 km circuit in 7:42’3”.

Two years have passed until End of German rule . It was September 2021 when Tesla arrived at the legendary circuit and with a Model S Plaid in Track Pack configuration, he cut the time by 12 seconds.

Two years later, the Californian firm would also be at the top. Until a few days ago, on August 18, this record was shattered by an electric hypercar arriving from Croatia, the Rimac refrigerator , who recorded a time of 7:05′298′’. Bestial weather for a daily use car.

The Rimac Nevera made headlines in the big leagues late last year when it became the world’s fastest production electric car, after hitting 412 km/h when it was exceeded the 400 km/h of the Aspark. .

Now the Rimac Nevera hangs a record sign again, but they are not the only ones to have a medal.

A few months ago, in May of this year, the Rimac refrigerator stunned the automotive world by breaking 23 records in a single day, something that had never happened before.

As announced by the brand, after a series of tests on the circuit of Papenburg, Germany, a Rimac refrigerator destroyed its own official acceleration (1.81 seconds) and broke 22 other world records including 0 to 200 km/h in 4.42 seconds, 0 to 300 km/h in 9.22 seconds and 0 to 400 km/h in 21.31 seconds.

But perhaps the most impressive was the acceleration from 0 to 400 km/h and the return to a standstill in less than 30 seconds. It did it in 29.93 seconds and was the first car in history to hit that barrier.

After this unprecedented event in the industry, the company’s CEO and founder, Mate Rimac, acknowledged that “as I grew, I was always pay attention to cars that have made history pushing the stick in terms of performance, still waiting for the technological revolution that these cars could bring to the street. It’s what drives me from day one to develop new technology that redefines what’s possible. Today, I’m proud to say that the car we’ve created can hit 400 km/h and get back to zero in less time than it takes a McLaren F1 to hit 350 km/h. And not only, because the the car can do it again and again, breaking all other existing performance records in the process. If you own a fridge and can access a track, you can do that too”

But where does this model and this brand come from? Rimac is a Croatian brand founded in 2009 by Mate Rimac in Sveta Nedelja, a small town near Zagreb.

Its first model was the Rimac Concept One and also he became one of the fastest in the world. Only eight units of this vehicle were made, and those who got the best upgrades will remember that one of those units was destroyed by Richard Hammond during a competition in Switzerland.

The beginnings of Rimac were very complex, especially for funding . The founder himself said in an interview a few years ago: “I only went to Silicon Valley once to ask for money, to talk to investors. They were completely disinterested. It happened eight years ago, when electric cars were not fashionable . They were just investing in social media, they didn’t want to touch electric cars. Today, it is completely the opposite. All of them are investing huge sums of money in electric cars based on Tesla’s success.

The strongest support would not come from the California offices, but from the auto industry itself. In early 2018, Porsche acquired a 10% stake, which was later increased to 15.5%.

The same year, the Rimac Nevera appeared at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show. Equipped with four electric motors one at each wheel, promised a combined output of 1941 horsepower, with a 120 kWh battery.

The range it offered was 650 km according to the old NEDC cycle and although the start of production was scheduled for 2020, due to pandemic concerns it postponed its official appearance to 2021.

The production of this hypercar would be limited to only 150 copies, each of which would cost nearly 2 million euros.

Building on this history, the Rimac Nevera was installed on the Nürburgring circuit, where all manufacturers meet the same requirements.

at the controls of the vehicle there was Croatian driver Martin Kodric, a connoisseur of the Green Hell. With a roll bar 18 kilos heavier than traditional roll bars, the idea was to avoid any inconvenience and, in the event of a problem, for the driver to be as protected as possible.

Now, to reduce excess weight, the inside the doors and it was thus possible to neutralize the additional load of the cage. And on the outside, a black color mixed with green, a configuration that would serve to give life to the new Time Attack series of 12 exclusive units.

I was then ready for the challenge of reducing Tesla’s time. It would also be another symbolic response to the ignorance that Silicon Valley has given to the creator of the company.

The press reports that the asphalt was a little slippery this morning of August 18, but everything went even better than expected since, on the first try, the The refrigerator already held the record for production electric car the fastest on the Nürburgring, with a time of 7:7”, bringing 23 seconds to the dominant mark.

Then came some adjustments. Already on the driest track, he returned to the circuit and set the extraordinary time of 7:05’298”. The work had been a total success, smashing the Tesla brand in 25 seconds and thus adding a new record to its long list of decorations.

“In many ways, the Nevera reinvented the world of hypercars, bringing new technologies, new capabilities and new levels of performance. But the easiest way to show your drive is to get out there and break some records. And that is exactly what we have done again and again in 2023,” commented Mate Rimac, the new monarch of the Green Hell.

After the consecration lap, the pilot Kodrić declared: “we had difficult weather conditions during our test sessions this week and we picked what looks to be one of the hottest days at the track this summer to set a lap time. However, a lap time of 7:05:298 on the Nürburgring Nordschleife is commendable. The fact that the Nevera can achieve this kind of speed on the track, when it was developed to be a hyper GT suitable for the road, is What makes it so special. It’s such a comprehensive piece of engineering and design; Supple and usable around town, exciting to drive on twisty roads, comfortable over long distances and blazingly fast on a race track.

Emilio Scervo, Bugatti Rimac’s Chief Technology Officer, is also not trailing praise and noted that “breaking records with Nevera is a testament to the innovation and dedication of the Rimac team. I’m proud of what we achieved on our first outing at the Nürburgring. Our virtual performance optimization, combined with only about twenty rounds of tests in industrial groups, led to an excellent result. This achievement showcases the technical prowess and adaptability of the Nevera, which was originally designed as a hyper GT. »