After running the quarter mile in a jaw-dropping 8.58 seconds just over a year ago, Rimac Nevera managed to impress us with its performance yet again. At Automotive Testing Papenburg in Germany, the electric hypercar reached 256 mph (412 km/h) in the hands of Miro Zrnčević, the company’s head of test and development. The course was chosen primarily because of its two long straights, each measuring 2.9 miles (4 kilometers).
To make this happen, Nevera is put into top speed mode, which on customer cars electronically limits the maximum speed to 219 mph (352 km/h). However, Rimac said the 150 people lucky enough to own it were able to get the most out of their valuables during “special customer events with support from the Rimac team and under controlled conditions.”
The Nevera was unmodified for top-speed efforts, and uses road-legal Cup 2 R tires. An engineer from Michelin was on site to check the rubber before the record breaking. Rimac says the hypercar was already traveling 155 mph (250 km/h) after exiting the banking and heading for the straight when Miro Zrnčević engaged all four motors to unlock a mighty 1,914 horsepower. In order to accurately measure speed, a GPS-based Racelogic V-Box device is installed in the car.
It will be a while before high-performance EVs can match the top speeds achieved by ICE-powered hypercars. As a refresher, the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport remains the king of speed after reaching 304.77 mph (490.48 km/h) in 2019 at the VW Group’s Ehra-Lessien test facility. There is no competition between the two brands as they are under the same corporate umbrella having merged to become Bugatti Rimac about a year ago.
As for which EV could be faster than the Rimac Nevera, we can’t think of one. Lotus has promised a top speed of over 200 mph (322 km/h) for the Evija, but it still has a long way to go to 256 mph (412 km/h). The Pininfarina Battista will reach 217 mph (350 km/h) while the Nio EP9 can “only” reach 194 mph (312 km/h) and it’s not road legal. The Lucid Air reached 235.44 mph (378 km/h) in 2017 and we shouldn’t overlook the Aspark Owl with a claimed top speed of 249 mph (400 km/h).
There is also a second generation Tesla Roadster which looks to be coming in 2023 after several delays. When the namesake concept was presented five years ago (yes, November 2017), it was mentioned as having a top speed of over 250 mph (402 km/h). We will believe it when we will see it. Meanwhile, Nevera reigns supreme.
