Move over Tesla, the Rimac Nevera is the fastest electric production car in the world with a top speed of 258 mph (412 kph). The previous record was 216 mph by the Tesla S Plaid, with the Nevera obliterating it by 42 mph during a recent top-speed run. To put the Nevera’s EV record into perspective, it has a higher top speed than the Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 (253.81 mph).
Rimac’s Chief Test and Development Driver, Miro Zrnčević, conducted the run at the Automotive Testing Papenburg track in Germany, which has a pair of 2.49-mile (4 km) straights. For the high-speed run, the Nevera was put into “top speed mode,” which sets up the car to balance drag and downforce for greater stability at higher speeds. The vehicle was fitted with street-legal Michelin Cup 2R tires, and a Michelin technician was on site to check their condition. A Racelogic V-Box, a high-precision GPS-based measurement device, was used to measure top speed. Don’t get any delusions of top speed glory if you are fortunate enough to own a Nevera because you will be limited to a top speed 219 mph unless you can convince the Rimac team to remove its governor.
“To travel at 412kph, or 258mph, means travelling at a third of the speed of sound,” said Zrnčević. “I’ve driven Nevera since it first turned a wheel and to see the perfectly honed car that is today is a really emotional moment. The most important thing I have learned during the top-speed attempt is how composed and stable the car was – confirming that our aerodynamics and vehicle dynamics teams have done an amazing job.”
This isn’t the first world record for the Nevera. In 2021 it ran an independently verified 8.582-second quarter mile, which gave it the title as the world’s quickest production vehicle.
The Nevera’s record is not overly shocking when you consider it has 1,914 horsepower on tap from a quartet of Rimac-designed electric motors that can rocket the EV from 0 to 60 mph in 1.85-seconds and 0 to 100 mph in 4.3-seconds.
Rimac Automobile was founded in 2009 in Croatia. To honor its homeland, the Nevera is named after an unexpected Mediterranean summer storm off the coast of Croatia. Rimac set a top speed target of 258 mph (412 kph) when the Nevera was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in 2018 and after 1.6 million of development the goal was realized
