CarBrandLogos archive · Rimac · 2013

RimacConcept One

Eight cars from a Croatian garage that made electric performance credible.

Photo: Norbert Aepli, Switzerland (User:Noebu) · CC BY 4.0

The story

A defining chapter in Rimac history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Rimac Concept One, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

Mate Rimac converted an old BMW 3 Series to electric power in his garage and started setting records with it. The Concept One was the argument that followed: a two-seat coupe developed in Sveta Nedelja and shown from 2011, with one motor at each wheel and a control system that could vary torque between them continuously.

Rimconc1 · Croq · CC BY-SA 3.0

Design and engineering

That torque vectoring was the point. Rimac was not simply substituting batteries for petrol; the company was making the case that four independently driven wheels could do things no mechanical drivetrain could, and it built its own battery packs, inverters and software to prove it. Only eight cars were built between January 2013 and November 2014, plus two of the track-focused Concept S in 2016, with exterior design by Adriano Mudri and the interior by Goran Popovic.

Geneva Motor Show 1167 · Norbert Aepli, Switzerland (User:Noebu) · CC BY 4.0

In production

One became briefly famous for the wrong reason when Richard Hammond crashed and destroyed it at a Swiss hillclimb in 2017, walking away from a car that then burned for days.

Geneva Motor Show 0934 · Norbert Aepli, Switzerland (User:Noebu) · CC BY 4.0

Legacy

The real legacy was corporate. The engineering behind the Concept One turned Rimac into a supplier of electrified drivetrains to other manufacturers, attracted investment from Porsche and Hyundai, and led to the joint venture that put Rimac in charge of Bugatti. The Nevera that succeeded it was the product Rimac could finally build at scale.

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Designer

Adriano Mudri (exterior)

Body

2-door coupé

Technical specification

The Concept One, in detail.

Production: Concept One: ; January 2013 – November 2014 ; 8 produced (6 currently in existence) ; Concept S: ; 2016 ; 2 produced
Class: Sports car (S)
Body style: 2-door coupé
Layout: Individual-wheel drive
Designer: Adriano Mudri (exterior); Goran Popović (interior)
Assembly: Croatia: Sveta Nedelja
Manufacturer: Rimac Automobili