It has been a long journey for Croatian electric car company Rimac Automobili. Its first concept car, the Concept One, debuted at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show and attracted immediate attention thanks to its elegant design and claims of over 1,000 horsepower. Five years later at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show the production version was revealed. Now, almost six years after the supercar's original debut, Rimac's chief operating officer, Monika Mikac, tells CarBuzz that the first Concept One will be delivered in March.
"Most of them are already pre-sold. The first car is just leaving to the customer, an American," Mikac told us over a morning phone call (afternoon for her in Sveta Nedelja, Croatia). Only eight will be made and each will cost $1.2 million. An 82 kWh battery pack powers four electric motors, two in the center of each axle. Total power output is 1,088 hp and 1,180 lb-ft of torque. Top speed is 220 mph and 0-62 mph happens in 2.6 seconds. Max range is 205 miles, but good luck hitting that. If you want improved performance and have more money to spend, the track-only Concept S is also available. Only two will be made at a cost of $1.6 million apiece.
When asked about deliveries for the Concept S, Rimac's COO replied, "Deliveries will be made next year. The waiting time is approximately one year, depending on when the customer placed the order." After all its cars are delivered the plan is to build a second model, albeit with (slightly) more availability. "We are going to develop a new car in the future, also in the luxury segment-really exclusive and even more high-performance than the Concept One. It'll be produced around 20 units per year." Ms. Mikac also told us the company would like to try and set some track records with its cars, including a Nurburgring record.
"Yes, for sure. That's some of the plans for our future. We would like to do it with the Concept One. We were planning to maybe do it this year." The problem is that, like most boutique automakers, Rimac doesn't have a couple of cars on standby to take to the Ring. Maybe a brave customer will volunteer their car? In the meantime the automaker is gearing up for Geneva where it plans to reveal upgrades for its flagship. And in case you were wondering, Rimac is more than happy to race the Concept One against a Tesla Model S P100D. With customer deliveries starting soon, that dream EV drag race may become a reality before long.
