The car is a smash hit; love at first sight, so to speak: Acceleration rates, top speeds, ranges, design, everything is phenomenal, and – electrically powered! The hypercar is surprising in many ways. Which exclusive sports car enthusiasts have Croatia on the radar when they are considering their next purchase? Who would have thought that a fully electric-powered vehicle could achieve performance levels that could even outperform the American market leaders? Only a maximum of one hundred and fifty units of the Rimac C_Two are to be built, each offered at a prodigious price of over one million EUR. Those who can seize the opportunity are really lucky. The countdown has begun.
Have you really never heard of Sveta Nedelja? You should remember this place in Croatia, at all costs – if you are interested in fast cars at least. The factory of the only automotive manufacturer in the eastern European republic lies twenty kilometres outside Zagreb: Rimac Automobili – named after its founder Mate Rimac, a speed junkie with visionary ideas. His company employs a team of dedicated young enthusiasts. There are career changers and university drop-outs, garage hobbyists and do-it-yourself tinkerers, who all share a passion for technology and innovative strategies. The apparent disadvantage of running a high-tech company in this region is proving to be an advantage: Most Croats have little money and therefore have to learn to build things themselves to achieve their aspirations. This results in an incredible potential for solution-oriented knowledge. Concentrated Balkan power – young, creative, unconventional and now a recipient of many awards.
The pursuit of the highest speed has been in Mate Rimac's veins since early childhood. Boundaries are not only acknowledged, but need to be pushed further and further to their limits. For the electric mobility market, it can almost be described as luck that the petrol engine of his BMW E30 exploded during a race in 2006. This event encouraged him to enter into the electric mobility sector. In 2009, when he was only 21 years old, he founded his company and put it on the road to success. The beginning was not easy. Suppliers didn’t want to have anything to do with him and if there was contact at all, it was only to sell outdated technology at inflated prices. So he and his comrades-in-arms had to develop and build everything themselves, from the chassis to the batteries and even the software. With success: The Rimac models are the fastest electric cars in the world. The Concept_one first stole the limelight at international motor shows. The impressive appearance of the C_Two at the Geneva Motor Show followed in 2018. But speed and the eye-catching design are not the only things that Rimac has to offer. The Croatian company is diverse, has an interdisciplinary working style and extensive technical expertise. The 130 employees develop battery and infotainment systems or drive components, among other things, and collaborate with other manufacturers in the industry. Now it is the other way around: Now the automotive manufacturers, including Porsche, Aston Martin and Jaguar, come to him to buy innovative technologies. From 0 to 100 in 1.97 seconds, the company represents the pinnacle of development. A European start-up fairy tale from underdog to self-made man.
