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Rimac Nevera sets hillclimb record at Goodwood Festival of Speed

The Rimac Nevera has become the fastest electric production car to have ever taken on the Goodwood Festival of Speed hillclimb.

In the Supercar Shootout on the final day of the event, the Nevera set a time of 49.32 seconds.

The car – fitted with Pirelli Pilot Sport 4S tires – was driven throughout the weekend by Bugatti Rimac Chief Test and Development Driver, Miroslav Zrnčević, who famously spent most of his time on the hill in Nevera during 2022 sideways, in smoky drifts through every corner. But for 2023, the focus wasn’t just on putting on a show, it was on setting a record.

Miroslav Zrnčević, Rimac Chief Test and Development Driver, said: “Taking on the narrow hillclimb at Goodwood, with its tight corners and off-camber sections, is actually one of the scariest places to drive a car quickly. But this is the record-setting year for the Nevera, and Goodwood hillclimb was yet another challenge to conquer. With tens of thousands watching on-site and millions more online, there’s a fine-line between glory and a trip into the hay bales, but I’m so happy to have showcased the incredible work of the design and engineering teams with another verified record for this revolutionary car.”

Key to the Nevera’s speed is its advanced battery system, powertrain and software, all developed in-house at the Rimac Group. The front and rear powertrains – each composed of two individual motors – provide power to each wheel individually. At the rear, a 1MW dual inverter enables 900Nm and 470kW per motor, while an entirely bespoke front powertrain is designed to deliver optimum power and control. All systems are overseen by a complex web of in-house developed electronic control units, working in conjunction with an NVIDIA Pegasus-based supercomputer to calculate and send output to the four powertrain systems 100 times a second. The combination of all these systems, and the software that controls them, is known as Rimac All-Wheel Torque Vectoring 2.

The Rimac Nevera is limited to 150 examples and it is currently being built on the outskirts of Zagreb, with deliveries ongoing to customers all over the world.

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