The Rimac Nevera is now the worlds fastest production electric car

The Rimac Nevera has achieved a top speed of 413kph (256mph), making it the world’s fastest production electric car.

Rimac has taken their acquisition of Bugatti quite seriously and has now achieved a record of their own, achieving 413kph to become the world’s fastest production electric car. Rimac set the record on the Automotive Testing Papenburg track in Germany and used a 4km straight to achieve its incredible top speed.

Straight-line speed has always been an obsession of automotive enthusiasts. It is why drag racing, salt flats, and 0-60 times mean so much to so many people. And when Rimac Automobili, a Croatian hypercar builder, purchased a controlling stake in Bugatti, a company that has long held the title of world’s fastest car, there was no doubt the direction the company was headed.

The record was achieved with the Rimac Nevara hypercar. The car uses a quad motor system to produce 1,914 horsepower and 1,741 pound-feet of torque. However, with a 120kWh battery, the car must overcome a fairly substantial 4,740-pound curb weight. Nevertheless, during the run, the car also achieved an eye-melting 0-60 of 1.85 seconds and an 8.582-second quarter mile.

Rimac test driver Miro Zrnčević commented on the achievement: “To travel at 412kph, or 258mph, means travelling at a third of the speed of sound. Simply achieving that alone in a road car is incredibly complex, but in Nevera we have created a car that can travel long distances on a single charge, can tackle tight and twisting race tracks and can drift as well as break straight-line speed records, both for acceleration and V-MAX.” The driver concluded by praising the Rimac’s planted feel and incredible control as it hit record speeds.

For now, electric vehicles lag behind their gas counterparts in terms of overall speed. Bugatti’s newest gas vehicle, the Chiron, achieved a top speed of over 300mph over three years ago. Nonetheless, Rimac’s record today indicates that electric vehicles are on the right track to overtake their gas competitors in the coming years.