- According to Mate Rimac, wealthy buyers want analog, combustion-powered supercars and hypercars, not electric cars
- The Croatian company sold only 50 of the 150 Neveras it planned to build
- According to Rimac, Bugatti will continue to operate as an ICE brand
Vinyl records, fully mechanical wristwatches and now ICE-powered hypercars: three examples of how supposedly outdated technology has fought back against the newer, more technically advanced but less soulful media that was supposed to replace it. This week, Rimac’s CEO admitted that sales of the company’s $2 million Nevera hypercar have fallen short of expectations because buyers want a more analog, gas-guzzling experience.
var adpushup = window.adpushup = window.adpushup || {que:[]}; adpushup.que.push(function() { if (adpushup.config.platform !== “DESKTOP”){ adpushup.triggerAd(“4d84e4c9-9937-4f84-82c0-c94544ee6f2a”); } else{ adpushup.triggerAd(” 6a782b01-facb-45f3-a88f-ddf1b1f97657″); } });
Three years after launching the Nevera and planning to sell 150 of the 1,888 hp (1,914 hp / 1,408 kW) quad-motor hypercars, only 50 have found homes, Mate Rimac told Financial Times Future of the Car attendees -Conference in London, Autocar Reports.
Related: Boss Move! Mate Rimac finally receives his own Nevera
It has already been widely reported that demand for mainstream electric cars has waned in recent months, but Rimac blames the Nevera’s weak sales in part on the proliferation of these mass-market electric cars, as well as attempts by governments and regulators to provide the public with clean cars to impose performance. That’s an interesting opinion from someone who you would assume would be in favor of widespread electric vehicle adoption.
window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: ‘thumbnails-a-mid’, container: ‘taboola-mid-article’, placement: ‘Mid Article’, target_type: ‘mix’ });
window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: ‘thumbnails-oc-2×1’, container: ‘taboola-mid-article-thumbnails-organic’, placement: ‘Mid Article Thumbnails Organic’, target_type: ‘mix’ });
“We started developing Nevera in 2016/2017, when electric was still cool,” Rimac said at the conference. “[But now] We’re seeing that as electrification becomes more widespread, the people at the top of the sector want to differentiate themselves.”
He likened the trend to wealthy individuals’ penchant for expensive analog watches, which cost far more than regular-wear digital smartwatches, even though the traditional timepieces can do far less.
“An Apple Watch can do everything better” Autocar – which means that the Nevera will not be replaced directly – reports Rimac. “It can do 1,000 more things, it’s much more precise and it can measure your heart rate. But no one would pay $200,000 for an Apple Watch.”
And just as the demand for expensive old-tech watches shows no signs of abating or being overtaken by the passion for digital alternatives, Mate Rimac cannot expect demand for electric hypercars and super-fast electric vehicles to pick up again any time soon help replace the ICE versions in our environment. So it’s just as well that the upcoming Chiron successor to Rimac’s own Bugatti won’t be an electric vehicle, but a retro-sounding naturally aspirated V16 powerhouse.
Where is Rimac? Earlier this year, we reported rumors that the company would unveil its 2026 robotaxi vehicle in a few months, and in April it signed a deal with BMW to supply battery packs for the German company’s next-generation electric vehicles.
var adpushup = window.adpushup = window.adpushup || {que:[]}; adpushup.que.push(function() { if (adpushup.config.platform !== “DESKTOP”){ adpushup.triggerAd(“5646c171-cb6e-4e2c-8440-49013ca72758″); } else{ adpushup.triggerAd(” e7c4c913-3924-4b2d-9279-6c00984dd130″); } });