Driving the $2 million, 2,000-horsepower Rimac Nevera EV

Thanks to its electric power delivery, this Croatian hypercar is both stunningly fast and remarkably controllable.

The future of the automotive industry is undoubtedly electric, so the future of performance cars is also electric by default. This was Mate Rimac’s early vision, and as a car enthusiast he launched an eponymous car company 15 years ago with the aim of developing high-tech electric supercars that deliver unprecedented performance.

The then twenty-year-old Rimac [pronounced REE-mahtz, with a rolled ‘r’] was optimistic, but even he probably couldn’t have foreseen the Nevera, his company’s 2,000-horsepower electric hypercar. But he insists that was exactly his goal, even then.

“This is it,” he said when the Nevera was announced. “This is the car I had in mind when I started the ‘impossible’ journey.” Maybe. But even now it’s difficult to understand the Nevera’s performance. The car’s four electric motors combine to produce 1,914 hp and 1,740 lb.-ft. of torque, which is enough to launch the Nevera to 100 km/h in 1.85 seconds and reach a top speed of 410 km/h.

A quarter mile acceleration takes just 8.6 seconds. In the US, the National Hot Rod Association’s drag strip rules require that any vehicle capable of a time of less than 10.0 seconds must be equipped with a full roll cage for crash protection.

But I’m not in the US. I’m in Zagreb, Croatia, home to the world’s unlikeliest hypercar manufacturer and EV pioneer, led by a boyish-looking 35-year-old. I flew here to experience this performance in person to confirm that the Nevera is not some kind of mass hallucination or internet fabrication. It is indeed real.

Rimac, the man and the company, have built a following on YouTube for videos that show the behind-the-scenes work at the company and serve as a de facto Croatian tourism promotion. The company received worldwide notice of an unfortunate crash in 2017, when it happened again Top equipment presenter Richard Hammond crashed a Rimac prototype. He emerged unscathed, but the car subsequently caught fire and was dramatically destroyed.

The Nevera’s 120 kilowatt-hour lithium-manganese-nickel battery powers the four custom surface-mounted permanent magnet motors that individually drive the Nevera’s four wheels. You may remember how great the Rivian R1T was because of the computer’s ability to accurately measure power at each wheel. The Nevera does the same with road and track performance.

One of the most amazing things about the Nevera (aside from the price tag that starts around $2.2 million) is how simple and accessible this ridiculous performance is. Open the Nevera’s scissor door and slide behind the wheel. You’ll notice that the cabin is cramped like a space capsule, especially when you close the door.

The forward driving position creates a shallow footwell and the central battery pack pushes legroom even further from the center of the car. Meanwhile, the rear bulkhead that separates the cockpit from the rear of the car is close enough to hinder the seat’s recline, so the Nevera sits snug inside.

The exposed carbon fiber surfaces give the spartan feel of a race car, but the seats are covered in luxurious leather. The carbon fiber creates a body whose stiffness is 70,000 Newton meters per degree. That number doesn’t mean much to non-automotive engineers, but Rimac claims this is the most rigid car in the world.

While the Nevera has an instrument cluster display in front of the driver, an infotainment display in the center of the dash and a performance computer display in front of the passenger to keep them entertained with updates on acceleration, braking and cornering load, along with the electric motor output, it’s still surprisingly analog, with physical knobs, buttons and toggle switches that perform different functions.

Press “Start” to turn on the Nevera, then locate the rotary switch on the far left side of the dash to engage Drive or Reverse. A similar dial to the right of the steering wheel allows you to select the driving mode.

Here the Nevera uses the Rimac All-Wheel Torque Vectoring 2 (R-AWTV 2) system, which replaces the regular stability and traction control systems. The car’s computer adjusts power delivery to each wheel 100 times per second to deliver the right amount of torque, based on the selected driving mode, the position of the accelerator pedal, the angle of the steering wheel and any tire slippage.

The general trend of the available driving modes is to push more power to the rear wheels, reduce regenerative braking and reduce power steering as the driver progresses through the different settings, starting with Comfort. Select Comfort mode and the computer strives to balance mileage and performance.

Switch to Sport mode for sharper responses from the accelerator, brakes and steering. Drift mode enables tire-smoking hooliganism, sending all the power to the rear wheels so drivers can perform amazing power slides on the track. And Track mode delivers maximum performance, delivering optimal power through all four wheels. It’s an EV, so there’s also a Range mode to use as little energy as possible to maximize the driving distance before charging.

Cruising around Rimac’s test track revealed major differences between each of these settings. It also revealed the Nevera’s shocking, visceral performance in virtually every driving mode. If I have almost 2,000 hp on tap, I think that will work.

I drove under the guidance of a Rimac test driver, but for customers who take the cars home, where such an attendant is not there to provide guidance and feedback, Rimac has built in an AI driver coach. The system can analyze the driver’s performance on race tracks using the car’s many sensors to provide specific guidance to improve his driving.

Acceleration runs on the drag strip are easier. Start mode only requires the driver to hold the brake pedal firmly, press the accelerator pedal to the floor and then release the brake. Then all hell breaks loose and the Nevera catapults to 160 km/h in just 4.3 seconds. It feels like high g teleportation.

At the end of the drag strip pass, the Nevera deploys its rear wing in air braking mode. Combined with the monstrous 15.3-inch carbon-ceramic Brembo brakes with six-piston calipers, this is the street-legal equivalent of the drag chute that NHRA dragsters use at the end of their ride. There’s probably no risk of detached retinas from the abrupt deceleration, but it feels possible!

This contrasts with combustion-powered hot rods, whose launch control systems appear to require the driver to rub his stomach while patting his head to activate them. Internal combustion cars are not only more complicated to launch, they are also slower.

When time at the track is up, I head back to the hotel in central Zagreb (in time for the annual wine festival). Rolling down the highway, it’s easier to notice that the massive Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S tires produce more than astonishing grip. They also produce a noticeable amount of road noise, and the Nevera’s rigid carbon structure does an excellent job of transferring that sound into the cabin.

Rimac could provide the Nevera with sound deadening, but that would add weight. A better solution is to turn up the volume of the audio system. The hardest part is getting off at the end of the ride. Literal. You have to elbow the folding scissor door like you mean it to get it open.