The Rimac Nevera with 1,914 hp, presented in 2021, is limited to 150 copies, of which around 50 have already been sold. One of the reasons that two-thirds of the planned production volume remains available is the reduced demand for electric hypercars, according to the brand.
“We started developing the Nevera in 2016/2017, when electric was still cool,” explained company founder Mate Rimac during the event Financial Times “Future of the Car” conference in London, England. In 2024, electrical engineering has become much more common; Electrification is required by law across Europe and almost every company offers at least one electric vehicle, regardless of their market positioning.
“The regulators and some OEMs are pushing it so much that the narrative has changed. They force things on us that we don’t want, so people are a little repulsed by that whole forced application. I’m always against it.” “I think everything has to be based on performance, so the product has to be better,” he added. Ordinary drivers have no choice, but those who can afford a hypercar want one with a gasoline engine.
This shift, in turn, is leading to a decline in demand for electric hypercars – such as the Nevera, Pininfarina Battista and Lotus Evija. They’re more powerful and typically faster than comparable gasoline-powered models, but companies recognize that a sub-two-second zero-to-60 mph time isn’t enough to make a car attractive. Buyers who spend seven figures on a car want analog technology, Autocar reported.
Rimac used the Apple Watch as an example.
“An Apple Watch can do everything better. It can do 1,000 things more, is much more precise and can measure heart rate. But no one would pay $200,000 for an Apple Watch,” he said. However, he noted that the Nevera remains the best-selling electric hypercar.
This finding at least partially explains why the successor to the Bugatti Chiron is not electric; It is powered by a new V16 engine. Rimac, which owns Bugatti, said sales of a battery-powered model would be “nowhere near” expectations for the V16 car. And the shift will likely impact Rimac’s product pipeline: it doesn’t expect demand for electric hypercars to pick up again.
Rimac remains committed to electrification, notably having partnerships with several car manufacturers including BMW and Hyundai, and it’s not about cramming Bugatti’s new V16 engine into the Nevera to boost sales. Looking to the future, they want to experiment with other types of drive technologies. “It’s not about being electric; “It’s about doing things other cars can’t do and providing a unique experience,” the CEO said.
One project brewing behind the scenes at the brand’s Croatian headquarters is a nanotube powertrain that can run on diesel, liquefied petroleum gas or hydrogen. This is a system that heats “chemically different” liquid fuels to produce the electricity needed to start an engine.