Rimac Nevera Sets World Speed Record For Electric Production Cars At 258 MPH

Rimac Nevera has set a top speed record for production electric vehicles of 258 mph (412 kph). For those who enjoyed the opening sequence of “Top Gun: Maverick” this past summer, that is one-third the speed of sound, rolling on four Michelin Cup 2Rs.

Nevera’s top speed is also the highest ever recorded for any type of car at the 7.64-mile (12.3-kilometer) banked oval complex of Germany’s Automotive Testing Papenburg (ATP), which has two east-west straights measuring 4 kilometers each, or just a few feet shy of two and a half miles (2.485 miles) in length.

With a running start of 155 mph (250 kph) coming off the oval’s banked corner, Rimac’s chief development driver Miro Zrnčević entered the straight.

According to Zrnčević, the car was “composed and stable…confirming that our aerodynamics and vehicle dynamics teams have done an amazing job.” Nevera was designed in “the tube” to achieve such speed. Computational fluid dynamics and quarter-scale wind tunnel models are one thing, doing the deed is another. It never counts until you peg the speedometer.

Can a buyer perform the same feat on an empty highway in Arabia or heading into Jackson Hole? Well, no. Nevera is delivered to customers with a limited top speed of 219 mph (352 kph), which is typical for most supercars and hypercars, as tire technology can readily handle that speed while also delivering excellent cornering traits at speeds below 200 mph. But customers who possess Top Gun desires can participate in future customer events on closed courses in coming years, under the close supervision of the Rimac team. Pneumatic road tires grow unhappy much past 240 mph, and it is the tires that limit the envelope on the open road, in the wilds. At customer events, the Rimac team will ensure the tires are perfect, the customer will be vetted, and then they can touch the outer edge of what is possible.

Nevera produces 1914 electric-equivalent horsepower from four Rimac-designed electric motors, one at each wheel, which propel the car from 0-60 mph in just 1.85 seconds, and to 100 mph in 4.3 seconds. Nevera had previously set a quarter-mile acceleration record of 8.582-seconds in 2021, making it the world’s quickest production car, gasoline or electric, bar none.

Nevera is a production car, one you can buy and drive down to the local bistro in total comfort. I have driven Nevera’s half-cousin, the Pininfarina Battista, for about two hours on open roads, and reveled in its effortlessly brutal acceleration. Nevera is a sterling example of how far we have come. I was at Ft. Stockton, Texas in 1987 when A.J. Foyt strapped into the Oldsmobile Aerotech to set a closed course record of 413 kph, or 257.124 mph, not much different than the speed of the road-legal Nevera. Admittedly, Foyt complete a full lap and the Nevera just touched its top speed for a moment, but the measurable stands. Beneath the Aerotech’s slippery long-tail body was nothing more than a March Indycar chassis powered by an absolutely raw turbocharged engined that emulated the architecture of GM’s Quad 4 production engine. One could smell the fuel on the air at start-up, in reality a ragged competition engine. It had nothing to do with any production car. I remember when my childhood hero Foyt ordered the mechanics to place duct tape over the fresh air vents feeding him inside the bubble, so determined he was to make the record. How far we have come, how much has Rimac accomplished.

Nevera has entered production at Rimac’s Porsche-funded factory near Zagreb, Croatia, and the first customer cars have been delivered. Remember that Bugatti is now paired with Rimac, and placed in the hands of the company’s founder, Mate Rimac. And Miro Zrnčević, we salute you.