There’s fast, and then there’s ‘breaking records at Nürburgring’ fast. The Rimac Nevera is the latter.
The all-electric sports car designed and manufactured by the Croatian EV giant Rimac Automobili, has gone astonishingly close to the haloed seven-minute mark, beating the likes of Porsche 911 GT3 RS, Mercedes-AMG GTR Pro, and Lamborghini Huracán Perfomante.
Driven by the Croatin driver Martin Kodrić, the car put up a lap time of 7:05.298, a complete 20 seconds faster than the previous record for an electric car, set by a Tesla Model S in Plaid Track Package this June. Incidentally, this was Kodrić’s first entry into the Nürburgring record sheets as well, joining the elite company of all-time great drivers like Christian Gebhardt and Maro Engel.
The lap marks a monumental feat for an electric car, in what is a truly exhilarating lap to watch on one of the most difficult and prestigious road tracks for car performance benchmarks.
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Speaking of benchmarks, the Nevera not only beat the Tesla Model S, it also outshone the Porsche Taycan, the German manufacturer’s battery-operated saloon.
While taking nothing away from the Croatian EV-makers and Kodrić, the Nevera is, however, a purpose-built hypercar with incredible handling, top speed and acceleration. Each of the Nevera’s four wheels is individually driven by surface-mounted magnet motor, producing a total of total of 1,427 kW (1,914 hp) and 2,360 N⋅m (1,741 lbf⋅ft) of torque.
The first prototype model of the car was released in August 2021, and the production was limited to 150 vehicles. The rollout of the cars started in mid-2022, with one of the first models being shipped to former Formula One driver, and now Monaco-based YouTuber Nico Rosberg.
In November last year, Rimac announced that the Nevera hit 412km/hr, becoming the world’s fastest production electric car. And this May, the car sent 23 records tumbling, including the 0-60mph (or, 0-97km/h) in 1.74 seconds, and the 0–249–0 mph (0–400–0 km/h) in 29.93 seconds.
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Reports suggest that the Nürburgring record was broken with a set of really grippy Michelin Cup2R tyres on “one of the hottest days on the track this summer”. Kodrić said: “Driving it around the Nordschleife was a real thrill, from launching out of the carousel, with 1,914hp (1,888bhp) being delicately distributed between the four wheels, or pinning the accelerator to the floor down the 1.3-mile straight, pushing well over 240mph.”
While only few cars have broken the seven-second mark — the lap record for any car is 6:30:705, almost 35 seconds faster than Nevera’s time, set by Maro Engel driving a Mercedes-AMG One in October last year — it still marks a tremendous leap in EV production.
To its credit, the AMG One is heavily derived from Mercedes’ Formula One technology with 1.6-litre V6 turbo petrol engine and four electric motors for the turbocharger, with a really, really high-downforce and low-drag package. The Nevera, on the other hand, while does boast a slippery aero profile, lacks significantly in the downforce department, and on a better day with improved conditions, maybe, we’ll see a sub-seven minute time from an EV — perhaps the Nevera again — soon.
