The electric automobile sphere hasn't quite recovered from experiencing the capabilities of the Rimac Concept One, and the Croatian automaker already has one more car in the pipeline. The Concept Two promises more power, more torque, low weight and advanced battery technology working in tandem to make it go faster.
There is no getting around the fact that electric propulsion is the future of automobiles (hydrogen fuel cells are an as yet nascent source of fuel). Today's performance electric cars easily outmatch their biggest fossil-fuel driven counterparts. Companies like Tesla have given the world a new alternative to go faster, making mainstream manufacturers around the world sit up and take notice. All of the biggest automakers in the world now have either hybrid or all-electric vehicles as part of their range. Croatian company Rimac Automobili is geared more towards the enthusiast side of things. The firm's sole focus is the pursuit of speed. Rimac's first car, the Concept One was a revelation in the way it performed, defeating the proudest of internal combustion supercars by a rather humiliating number of car lengths on a drag strip, making them sweat around a racetrack, and making no noises about it (pardon the pun).
Recently at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show Rimac debuted the Concept Two. The all-electric hypercar is capable of producing 1914 hp and a ridiculous 2300 Nm of twist. If the power figures are hard to measure the car, give this a shot: Rimac claims the Concept Two will hit the ton from a standing start in 1.9 seconds, hit 300 kph in 11.8 seconds, and given enough road, will do 415 kph flat out. Only a few cars such as the Bugatti Veyron SuperSport, Bugatti Chiron, Hennessey Venom GT, and Koenigsegg Agera RS boast of a higher top speed. None of them get to the ton nearly as fast as the Rimac.
The Concept Two is powered by four electric motors, that send power to all wheels. It offers a healthy range of 650 km on a full battery according to the New European Driving Cycle. Charging the Concept Two is not even a hassle due to Rimac's advanced 250 kW-h fast-charging system which juices up the 120 kW-h battery pack up to 80% in just 30 minutes.
The Rimac Concept One is a hypercar and deserves the aerodynamics to tame the power it commands. The front and rear diffusers both get active aero bits. There are also hood flaps, a shapely rear wing, and underbody panels that give the car more downforce or top speed based on necessity. There is also a torque vectoring system onboard to keep the car rock solid around corners. The car looks like the Concept One's evolution, albeit an aggressive one. Gullwing doors and sumptuous interiors suggest grand touring capabilities.
When it comes to semiautonomous operations, Rimac has you covered with an exhaustive kit. There are eight cameras, 12 ultrasonic sensors, and two lidar and six radar systems peppered strategically throughout the Concept Two. The kit generates up to eight terabytes of data each hour. This data will eventually allow Rimac to implement Level 4 autonomous driving system in its cars, but for now, the Concept Two does offer automatic emergency braking, lane assist, and adaptive cruise control.
Rimac plans to make 150 units of the Concept Two and each car is expected to cost over $1 million.
