Yahoo Autos The Rimac Nevera Just Set a 258-MPH EV Speed Record
The all-electric Rimac Nevera was already the quickest production car in the world, having blitzed to an 8.58-second quarter mile last year. That's no surprise; EVs are famously quick off the line, and the Nevera's a proper hypercar. What's more amazing is its top speed run, announced today. According to Rimac, a Nevera hit 258 mph, making it the fastest EV in history.
It also puts the Nevera ahead of nearly every internal-combustion road car ever built, including some top-speed royalty. The McLaren F1 topped out at 240 mph during its record run, and the original Bugatti Veyron recorded a 253-mph two-way average. It sounds like Rimac's record was one-way, which has become more common in recent years. The current accepted record is held by the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+, which recorded a one-way speed of 304.7 mph. Clearly EVs have a bit to go before they unseat the Chiron, but this is a massive achievement.
It's well known that while EVs are quicker off the line, similarly powerful internal-combustion cars are generally faster and better at accelerating from high speeds. It's a function of EVs' torque delivery. Electric motors can deliver full torque from the instant they're spooled up, whereas internal-combustion engines need revs to reach that peak torque and have a far narrower ability to deliver peak torque. In turn, EVs tend to be far heavier per horsepower than their ICE counterparts, which penalizes EVs at high speeds—a mountain of torque can only overcome so many tons of curb weight at speed.
But the Nevera has overcome the top-speed disadvantage in part through raw firepower: The Nevera's four electric motors make 1914 hp. The Croatian company says its hypercar will hit 60 in 1.85 seconds and cross 100 mph in just 4.3 seconds, so the stats are bonkers across the board.
That brutal acceleration also made it possible to set this top-speed record at a slightly more reasonable location than the Bugatti or Koenigsegg records. Rimac held its top-speed test at Automotive Testing Papenburg, a German facility with two 2.5-mile straights. The company says this was the fastest speed ever recorded at that track.
Rimac Chief Test and Development Driver Miro Zrnčević noted how stable the car was during its run, but of course the guy who helped develop the Nevera would say that. More importantly, Rimac says that while customer cars will have a 219-mph limiter from the factory, the company will disable customer-car limiters at certain sanctioned events. At those events, Rimac techs will ensure the tires are prepared for a top speed run, as the Michelin Cup 2Rs are under severe stress at that speed. If the tires are good to go, though, you should be able to see what your Rimac feels like at speeds beyond the reach of a Veyron driver.
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