- Croatian supercar brand Rimac has hinted that it’s getting ready to unleash a new crazy-fast EV.
- The firm recently deleted every old Instagram post and has since added 10 teaser images and videos of a mystery supercar.
- We’re expecting to see a hardcore, more track-focused Nevera make its debut at Monterey Car Week this month.
Between Bugatti and its new Tourbillon hypercar, and a new robotaxi business, Mate Rimac has plenty on his plate right now. But some intensive teaser activity on the Instagram page of Rimac Automobili confirms that he hasn’t forgotten about the car and brand that made his name, and is about to launch something even nuttier than the Nevera.
Rimac hasn’t made any formal announcement about a new car, so all we’ve got to go on is what’s happened on its Instagram page. All of the firm’s old posts were deleted a couple of weeks ago and since then the Croatian EV experts have been dropping video clips and details images of a new car. They don’t don’t show the entire car, but we can make out a carbon rear spoiler and a hood that’s a totally different shape to the one on the current Nevera.
Related: Rimac Turns 15 And Celebrates With $2.5M Copper Nevera Special
“Are you Rebellious? Are you Radical? Are you Rimac?” asks the text in the firm’s newly updated IG bio.
Deleting every piece of published content from a social media channel is an extreme move and one brands usually only take when they have something radical in the offing. Does that mean Rimac is about to launch an entirely new hypercar? Or a hybrid, as plenty of commenters on the Instagram post make clear they’re hoping to see?
We don’t think so. We’re expecting a more extreme Nevera, something with even more power and more aero. CEO Mate Rimac has always said that the current Nevera is more of a hyper GT than something designed with the track in mind, an angle most other multi-million dollar hypercars take.
The Nevera set a bunch of acceleration records including a 1.74-second zero to 60 mph (97 kmh) time, 8.25-second quarter mile, and 21.31-second 0-400 km/h (249 mph) run last year, and it’s also the fastest production EV around the Nurburgring. But we argued that the 7:05.298 it achieved at the Ring wasn’t much to brag about considering how much power the Nevera makes and how fast it is in a straight line. A Manthey-kitted Porsche 911 GT3 with less than a third as much power is 5 seconds quicker because it’s lighter and has more downforce.
So let’s imagine that Rimac has added some more hp to the Nevera’s quad-motor output, done its best to carve some pounds from the curb weight, and equipped it with some super-sticky rubber and a set of spoilers that create a ton of extra downforce. The Ring time would tumble well below the 7-minute mark, and its acceleration and braking numbers would also improve (apart from some potential drag-limiting effects at extreme speeds).
Building a more extreme Nevera might also be just what Rimac needs to boost disappointing sales. Mate Rimac told reporters in May that his firm still hadn’t managed to shift the 150 Neveras it planned to build because wealthy car buyers prefer combustion-powered hypercars.
The timing of Rimac’s Instagram spring clean gives us a good clue about when we might see whatever it is the firm is working on. Monterey Car Week takes place in California between August 9-18 and the place will be jam-packed with obscenely rich car enthusiasts.
What do you think Rimac has up its sleeve, a hotter Nevera or something even more radical? Leave your comments below.