Currently reading: Riding in the £1m Rimac Concept One
We take a ride with Rimac's test driver to see what all the fuss is about

Only eight Rimac Concept One supercars were built. Now, there are only seven after a notorious crash involving Richard Hammond.

Given they are all customer cars, it’s not surprising that I find myself in the passenger rather than driver’s seat for my brief ride in the car, sitting alongside Rimac test driver Miroslav Zrncevic.

Rimac C_Two hypercar revealed 

This car is owned by Paul Runge, an electric car fan and retinal surgeon based in Florida, who is disarmingly relaxed about us taking his car out for a spin. If I’d just bought a £1m supercar, I’d be keeping a tight hold on the keys.

I’ve heard plenty about the Concept One, most notably its 0-62mph time of a hairy 2.5sec. That’s faster than a McLaren P1 and Ferrari LaFerrari.

Still, despite the figures, it’s easy to be sceptical of these fairly unknown electric supercar brands coming out of the woodwork (think Vanda Dendrobium, Nio EP9), with plenty of raucous claims on performance that surpass the established brands. This very car took a long time to come to fruition; it was first seen in 2011 at the Frankfurt motor show.

But it’s also an exciting time, because often these are the companies that are pushing the boundaries of what can be done with electric cars, not constrained by price or selling to the masses like so many mainstream car makers.

Before getting in the car, chief operating officer Monika Mikac told me about how Rimac built its own infotainment system – not because the company wanted to but because it got quoted a huge €20m for buying a system from a supplier – and how impressive it is. My initial thought was: impressive, schimpressive. There’s plenty of decent infotainment systems out there and plenty of mediocre ones; this will fit into one of those categories. I was wrong. Everything you can think of is accessible via this Rimac touchscreen. Choose your torque distribution between the front and rear? Yes. Overlay graphs on power, motor speed and torque from a period of time? You can. Raise your suspension for a speed bump? Sure. You get the idea. It’s damn impressive.

So, let’s get to the good bit. We’re on a private estate near Monterey, California, which gives Zrncevic the perfect excuse to show me quite what this beast is capable of.

The electric Concept One is a 1224bhp car with a combined torque figure of 1180lb ft. It has four motors, one on each wheel, making it four-wheel drive. The powertrain also enables all-wheel torque vectoring, with each wheel able to accelerate or decelerate a hundred times per second – that’s something else you can witness on the infotainment system.

Back to top

The claimed 0-62mph time is 2.6sec. We get out into a fairly straight piece of open road and Zrncevic puts his foot down. As with all electric cars, torque is instant, which is why these powertrains are so perfect for supercars. But this is so fast and so unnervingly quiet, it takes my breath away. And that wasn’t quite from a standing start, so it could go even faster yet.

We don’t get much of a chance to chuck it around corners on our short run, not least because I’m sure Zrncevic is under strict instructions to keep Runge’s car safe, but the clever torque vectoring system leaves it in good stead for promising handling.

I ask Zrncevic what the advantages are of this over your average Porsche or Bugatti. As well as observing that the torque vectoring system is like no other, he sums it up with this: “We benchmarked this car against the 918 Spyder, the Veyron and the LaFerrari. This is way faster.”

Join the debate

Comments
17
Add a comment…
Peter Cavellini 29 August 2017

A car to far...?

Most Cars like this can only use about thirty percent if there potential,so, Track days, Car experience events are where most go, the owners earn enough to run them..

Viscount Biscuit 29 August 2017

Watching and listening to the

Watching and listening to the short video of this thing accelerating, I couldn't but notice the ridiculous sound as if an airport buggy had suffered a short circuit and run amok.

cowichan 28 August 2017

which ?

   I want to drive from Vancouver, BC to Calgary, AB. Which will get me there quicker, the mighty Rimac or a plain old Golf? The distance is 1000 km.

Deathknell 28 August 2017

Cowichan

Stupid comment Cowichan. Comparing apples and oranges. I want to drive from Vancouver, BC to Calvary, AB. Which will get me there quicker, the mighty Bugatti Veyron or the Ford Mondeo Diesel?
cowichan 29 August 2017

stupid comment

At some unstated speed, but certainly only a fraction of its 200+ mph top speed, the 2017 Rimac has a range of 350 km. While your Veyron can fill at any gas station and go, the Rimac needs some time at the end of an electrical cord. It's a stunt machine, not an automobile. I'll take the Golf. Or your Veyron.

Vertigo 29 August 2017

cowichan wrote:

cowichan wrote:

At some unstated speed, but certainly only a fraction of its 200+ mph top speed, the 2017 Rimac has a range of 350 km. While your Veyron can fill at any gas station and go, the Rimac needs some time at the end of an electrical cord. It's a stunt machine, not an automobile. I'll take the Golf. Or your Veyron.

A Veyron won't go very far if you drive it hard either. The difference is that you can recharge the Rimac over lunch, so potentially waste no time.

cowichan 29 August 2017

  Based on the Tesla S the

  Based on the Tesla S the charge rate on a 240 volt charger is 50k/hr or 7 hours for a 0-350k charge. Think your lunch stretches the meaning of 'leisurely' Then of course there is your dinner stop AND your midnight snack stop. In between you are probably driving at 60kph to eke out that 350 k range. Meanwhile the Golf chugs on at 120k.

Vertigo 30 August 2017

cowichan wrote:

cowichan wrote:

  Based on the Tesla S the charge rate on a 240 volt charger is 50k/hr or 7 hours for a 0-350k charge. Think your lunch stretches the meaning of 'leisurely' Then of course there is your dinner stop AND your midnight snack stop. In between you are probably driving at 60kph to eke out that 350 k range. Meanwhile the Golf chugs on at 120k.

The Concept One can charge at up to 120kW, which is around 150 miles' range per half hour (or 73% of the battery, to put it another way). Today's charging infrastructure only caps out at 50kW, but that's still over 60 miles per half hour.

The range should also be easily attainable at a 120kmh/75mph cruise. Rimac doesn't specify the driving cycle for their range figure, but the similar-capacity Tesla Model S P85D gets 253 miles on the EPA cycle, which shows typical real-world range.

bowsersheepdog 10 September 2017

Vertigo wrote:

Vertigo wrote:

cowichan wrote:

  Based on the Tesla S the charge rate on a 240 volt charger is 50k/hr or 7 hours for a 0-350k charge. Think your lunch stretches the meaning of 'leisurely' Then of course there is your dinner stop AND your midnight snack stop. In between you are probably driving at 60kph to eke out that 350 k range. Meanwhile the Golf chugs on at 120k.

The Concept One can charge at up to 120kW, which is around 150 miles' range per half hour (or 73% of the battery, to put it another way). Today's charging infrastructure only caps out at 50kW, but that's still over 60 miles per half hour.

The range should also be easily attainable at a 120kmh/75mph cruise. Rimac doesn't specify the driving cycle for their range figure, but the similar-capacity Tesla Model S P85D gets 253 miles on the EPA cycle, which shows typical real-world range.

Which is a long-winded way of saying the Veyron, the Golf and even the crappy Mondeo diesel all easily beat it to Calgary.  Electric cars are going nowhere.

Make Car Window... 29 August 2017

A plane or train would be

A plane or train would be quicker!