EV smashes acceleration record
The Rimac Nevera has set a new quarter-mile (400-metre) world record for a production car after covering the distance in just 8.582 seconds and producing a top speed of 167.51mph (269.58kph).
It showed off its blistering acceleration when the full force of its 1,914hp powertrain, which is connected to four separate electric motors, was unleashed at the drag strip at Famoso Raceway, California, in August 2021.
Brooks Weisblat, from the DragTimes website, was behind the wheel of the car and delivered the record time on the 11th run of the day.
Riding on standard Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres – just like every Nevera – the vehicle boasts advanced control systems that constantly monitor which wheels have the most grip, portioning out the power to minimise wheelspin and maximise acceleration.
The previous world record for the fastest accelerating production car was set in 2011 by the Rimac Concept_One, a BMW 3 Series that had been converted to electric power, with a time of 9.9 seconds.
The Nevera produced an unofficial record when it clocked 8.62 seconds during testing in Croatia in June this year.
Miroslav Zrncevic, test and development driver, says officially setting the record in the US was the first time the car had been put to the test on a VHT (glued) surface.
“At first we were hitting less than expected quarter-mile times than we did on a normal, non-prepped surface in Europe,” he explains.
“After some adjustments and different tyre warm-up strategies we managed to get better results.
“Still, we are confident that the Nevera has much more to give and that we can go even quicker with more experience and testing on this kind of surface.”
Mate Rimac, founder and CEO of the marque, adds the Nevera is “about so much more than speed”.
“With the largest battery pack ever fitted to a production car, it can travel 340 miles (547km) on a single charge,” he notes.
“With in-house developed Rimac All-Wheel Torque Vectoring 2 it’s as agile as it is fast, and with electrically adjustable dampers and active aerodynamics it’s comfortable and quiet ona cruise, and a performance machine on a track.”
