Croatian electric-car specialist Rimac and its Italian partner Pininfarina claim their plug-in hypercars have set two new speed records – one for top speed and one for acceleration.
The Rimac Nevera and Pininfarina Battista – two of the world’s most powerful and expensive electric cars – have claimed two separate speed records to become the fastest plug-in vehicles on the planet.
Both hypercars are assembled in Croatia by electric-car specialist Rimac, although the Pininfarina Battista is fitted with bespoke, hand-built bodywork made by the iconic Italian design house – famous for the Ferrari Testarossa, Fiat Coupe and Alfa Romeo GTV.
Last week, Rimac announced the Nevera had achieved a top speed of 412km/h (258mph) on the Automotive Testing Papenburg circuit in Germany, setting a new electric-car record.
The Rimac Nevera’s 412km/h top speed eclipsed the previous electric-car record holder, the Tesla Model S Plaid, by 90km/h – although it fell shy of the Koenigsegg Agera RS’s 447km/h overall record for production cars.
As previously reported, the Rimac Nevera is powered by four electric motors which can produce up to 1427kW and 2360Nm, with energy supplied by a 120kWh battery pack.
While Rimac claims the Nevera reached speeds in excess of 400km/h in opposite directions on the oval circuit’s straights – a requirement for production car speed records – the top speed is yet to be independently verified.
Less than a week after Rimac announced it had set a new top speed record for electric cars, Pininfarina claimed its Battista hypercar had beaten the Nevera’s record 0-100km/h time.
In a media statement, Pininfarina announced the Battista had achieved a 0-100km/h time of 1.86 seconds, more than two-tenths of a second faster than the Rimac Nevera’s 2.1 second record which was set in August last year.
To put this in perspective, a Formula One car takes closer to 2.6 seconds to accelerate from zero to 100km/h. A Volkswagen Golf GTI can complete the sprint in 6.3 seconds.
The record was achieved despite the Battista producing 10kW and 20Nm less than the Nevera – although its weight has not been confirmed by Pininfarina.
Pininfarina continued to test the Battisa at the Dubai Autodrome where it posted more mind-numbing acceleration figures, including a 0-200km/h sprint time of just 4.75 seconds.
The Italian firm claims the hypercar also set a new electric-car deceleration record, slowing from 100km/h to a stop in just 31 metres.
In Europe, the Rimac Nevera is priced from €2 million ($AU3.1 million) while the Pininfarina Battistai starts at €2.2 million ($AU3.4 million). Production of both hypercars is limited to 150 examples each.
While Melbourne’s Lorbek Luxury Cars announced it would import three examples of the Battista for Australian customers in 2020, the electric hypercar is yet to arrive on local roads.
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