Mate Rimac is only 36 years old. He has sold fewer than 200 cars, and the company he founded carries his name and is located in Croatia. It is not exactly the classic formula for creating cars.
Yet Rimac is one of the most fascinating puzzles in the industry. It produces the fastest car in the world in terms of serial production, the electric Nevera, with 1,914 hp and dual drive, accelerating from 0 to 100 km/h in 1.85 seconds, to a maximum of 412 km/h, and reaching up to 400 km/h and back to a complete stop in less than 30 seconds, faster than the Koenigsegg Regera and Bugatti Chiron. It has a 120 kWh battery and a combined range of 490 km, and costs $2M. 150 units will be produced by advance order. Prior to it, Rimac created the Concept One, which almost killed former Top Gear host, Richard Hammond.
Mate Rimac, who wanted to ensure the economic future of the company he founded in 2009, agreed to share its knowledge with other car manufacturers trying to shorten their path to the electric world. So, alongside car production Rimac provides knowledge or components to Porsche, Aston Martin, Koenigsegg, Jaguar, and Seat, somewhat like the model of Porsche (remember the "Porsche engine" in the first Seat Ibiza?).
Porsche and Hyundai-Kia also invested in Rimac. In 2021, Porsche and Rimac also announced the establishment of a joint venture controlled by the Croatian entrepreneur (55%), Rimac-Bugatti, which acquired control of the fascinating but unprofitable high-end car manufacturer Volkswagen. Porsche also acquired from Rimac an electric motorcycle manufacturer that he founded, and turned it into its motorcycle division last year.
And after all that, when Rimac posted a cryptic video on Instagram promising the launch of a new car he developed, the internet is buzzing with rumors. The video shows a silhouette not belonging to a sports car. Maybe a hatchback, maybe a minivan. Almost certainly not a crossover or a jeep, cars Rimac swore he would never build, after Ferrari unveiled the Purosangue. Is it an autonomous passenger vehicle? Rimac has previously said that his company is working on one, and his connection with the Volkswagen Group gives him access to many modern components, and perhaps also to technologies from Mobileye and Israeli Innoviz.
The video shows the silhouette as part of urban landscapes, a picture of the author and inventor Jules Verne, and in the background a song about "city arteries" and "we ride from dawn till noon."
So what is Rimac teasing? Wait until June 26th.