Croatian company Rimac has quickly established itself as the leading developer of electric supercars. Established in 2009, company founder and CEO Mate Rimac began working on his vision to revolutionize the electric car industry in his garage. Rimac's first supercar, the Concept_One, may be infamous for nearly killing Richard Hammond while filming for The Grand Tour, but the publicity the accident generated was invaluable for the company. Everyone now knows Rimac.
At this year's Geneva Motor Show, Rimac shook up the auto industry with the C_Two, a 1,914-hp electric supercar capable of hitting 0-62 mph in 1.85 seconds, making it faster than the Tesla Roadster. Clearly, this incredible car caught the attention of Porsche, because the automaker has now bought a 10 percent stake in Rimac not long after naming its first EV, the Taycan. Porsche hasn't specified any plans following the investment, but said it hopes to enter a "close collaboration" with Rimac in the future.
"By developing the purely electric two-seaters super sports cars, like the 'Concept One' or 'C Two', as well as core vehicle systems, Rimac has impressively demonstrated its credentials in the field of electromobility", said Lutz Meschke, Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board and Member of the Executive Board for Finance and IT at Porsche. "We feel that Rimac's ideas and approaches are extremely promising, which is why we hope to enter into close collaboration with the company in the form of a development partnership." The news may come as a surprise, but Rimac has worked with other automakers having developed battery technology for leading supercar makers such as Aston Martin and Koenigsegg.
It's too early to tell how the two companies will collaborate, but it's an exciting development for the EV world. With Porsche and Rimac joining forces, just imagine what a fully electric 911 will be capable of. "This partnership now is an important step for Rimac on our way to become a component and system supplier of choice for the industry in electrification, connectivity and the exciting field of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems", company CEO Mate Rimac said.
