The Rimac Concept One
The Rimac Concept One is the worlds first full-electric supercar to hit the streets. Rimac Automotibili first got their start out of a garage in 2007 when the founder, Mate Rimac, at 19 years old converted his BMW e30 to incorporate an electric powertrain. He initially used his e30 for drifting and circuit racing until he blew its petrol engine, which caused him to rethink his philosophy behind the e30 M3 and convert it to a full EV platform. After one year of tinkering in his garage he was not satisfied with the results, it was heavy, slow and the range was extremely limited, so he decided to gather a team of experts to develop their own components to bring the cars performance to levels he knew were possible. Eventually, the E30 (dubbed "Green Monster" was able to hit 0-60 in just 3.3sec making it the fastest accelerating EV in Category A, Group VIII and Class 3 FIA racing categories. Its EV power-plant produced 600hp and 663lb ft with a top speed of 168mph. After 5 iterations the young man, with the help of angel investments and selling multiple patents it was time for him to realize his dream of designing and creating his very own EV supercar.
The Concept One would go on to produce 1,224hp and 1,180lb ft of torque propelling the car to 62mph in just 2.5sec and a top speed of 213mph. Almost all of the materials for the car are produced in-house and the design team includes former designers from Pinifarina and Magna Steyr with the exterior being designed by a young Croatian designer, Adrian Mudri. It was first revealed at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2011, up until then very few details had been released about the project. At its unveiling hundred of journalists and employees from BMW, Tesla, Audi and Fisker were aching to take a look at the cars powertrain to understand the design philosophy behind the Rimac. The powertrain, motor and battery are all stored in the floor of the car giving it a very low center of gravity. Each wheel is powered by a separate 12,000rpm, 250kW liquid-cooled permanent magnet motor which allows for true 4-wheel torque vectoring. Amazingly, its batteries provide the car with a range of 320mi and can completely recharge in just 30min throwing away any preconceived notions that EV's are inharently impractical.
For comparison, below are the ranges of comparable petrol-powered vehicles:
Bugatti Chiron: 290mi
La Ferrari: 317mi
Agera RS: 345mi
Richard Hammond also performed an invaluable service to Rimac making it the talk of the car community around the world when he had an epic crash in a hill climb event while filming for the new season of The Grand Tour. Below you will find a video of him and the founder of Rimac recounting the experience.
