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Meet the electric supercar entrepreneur Mate Rimac, whose new vehicle aims to overtake Tesla

Mate Rimac
Mate Rimac

It’s a mark of Mate Rimac’s entrepreneurial nous that the high profile crash which catapulted his electric car company to public prominence might be put to good use in the company’s latest venture.

The Grand Tour presenter Richard Hammond was airlifted to hospital after rolling a Rimac Concept One down a Swiss mountainside in 2017. Co-host Jeremy Clarkson later said he ‘genuinely thought’ Hammond was dead. The hypercar’s powerful battery pack is said to have burned for five days.

So will Hammond be invited to drive Rimac’s new C_Two at launch next year? “Absolutely! We’ve already spoken to his television producers. I just want to get the car perfectly right before he does his magic,” says Rimac, at his company headquarters in Zagreb, Croatia.

The amiable entrepreneur also suggests the incident, which happened at the exact moment Rimac Automobili was about to sign a new fundraising deal, might be immortalised in his new £1.8 million car.

“Tesla has a Ludicrous driving mode in some of its models – we might fit a Hammond mode. I need to ask him if he would be fine with that. It would be a cool feature.”

Among the list of people already signed up for the new car, restricted to just 150 examples, is 2016 Formula One world champion, Nico Rosberg. “To have one of the world’s best drivers give us his seal of approval on our design and engineering is an amazing feel,” says Rimac.

Mate rimac
Mate rimac

The C_Two has been a long time coming. It was prematurely revealed at Geneva Motor Show in 2018 but is now on track to be with customers in the first half of 2021.

Hand-built from carbon fibre, four electric motors will combine to produce some staggering stats - 1,914 horsepower, a top speed of 258mph and 0-62mph in 1.8 seconds, making it the fastest accelerating production car in the world.

Rimac, 32, is bubbling with excitement at the prospect. “I never said we were building the sort of electric car that would save the planet. I just want to create a great car. No other electric vehicle appeals to me.

The new C_Two car will cost £1.8m
The new C_Two car will cost £1.8m

“Elon Musk at Tesla was not an inspiration but today I have great respect for the guy. I am not a hater like some people – I really appreciate what he is doing and follow him like everybody else.”

The Hammond saga is just the latest obstacle Rimac has had to overcome. Born in the former Yugoslavia, his family lived in one of the poorest towns in Europe.

“We had very little money. My mother herded cows and people lived hand to mouth. When I was born, my parents moved to Germany to find work. I was left behind with my grandparents, then the war came and I was sent to join them.”

"The new car will raise the bar in every category,” says Rimac
"The new car will raise the bar in every category,” says Rimac

Rimac’s mother cleaned hotels, while his father worked on building sites. Eventually, his dad started his own construction business and the family moved back to Croatia in 2001.

“I was a little guy and spoke differently to everyone else because I grew up in Germany. The bigger guys bullied me at school, so I found it really tough. I retreated into myself and discovered I enjoyed designing things,” he says.

Rimac invented a high-tech glove that acted as a keyboard and mouse, which went on to win an international design competition. “It was 2005 and I saw that one day devices would be more connected to the internet. People thought the idea was mad.”

The C_Two fulfils Rimac's hypercar dream
The C_Two fulfils Rimac's hypercar dream

Obsessed with cars, Rimac bought an old BMW to race when he turned 18. The car blew up, so he decided to equip it with batteries imported from China. “Nikola Tesla was born in Croatia and I was fascinated by his electrical thinking,” he says.

Still tinkering with cars is his father’s garage, Rimac's ‘mad’ school invention then paid dividends when an Abu Dhabi investor remembered the glove award and got in touch.

“We didn’t have a business, or a car but that was a key moment. A year later we had a stand booked at the Frankfurt Motor Show.”

Nico Rosberg speaks to Rimac
Nico Rosberg speaks to Rimac

The company skirted disaster on many occasions but found its feet supplying electrical components to the likes of Mercedes, Hyundai and Porsche – the latter now owns a 15.5 per cent stake in Rimac's company, which employs more than 800 people.

Rimac has just returned from a week-long visit to the UK where he has been working on the battery technology for the all-electric Aston Martin Valkyrie, which will feature in the new James Bond movie No Time To Die.

This income stream has allowed Rimac to focus on his hypercar dream. “The C_Two is what I wanted to do when I formed the company. The Concept One was a bad attempt – the new car will raise the bar in every category.”

Rimac, who has just become engaged to his girlfriend of 15 years, Katarina, didn’t have enough money to buy an example of his own Concept One but has just taken delivery of his first company car, a BMW M5.

“I’m looking forward to my own C_Two being built but until then I still cycle to work on an electric bike.”

Naturally, it’s no ordinary electric bike. Rimac build their own Greyp e-bike, capable of 44mph and said to be the first to feature Artificial Intelligence, equipped with cameras and internet functionality.

For now, he’s focused on unveiling the C_Two to the world with a new name due to be revealed in October. “Ten years ago, electric cars were considered slow, ugly milk floats. We intend to change that.”

Hyper Tension: the electric supercars Rimac has to beat…

Lotus Evija

Lotus Evija
Lotus Evija

Britain’s first ever fully-electric hypercar is delayed until mid 2021, priced at £1.7 million

Pininfarina Battista

The Pininfarina Battista
The Pininfarina Battista

Based on a Rimac driving platform, the Italian two-seater costs £2 million but looks sensational.

Dendrobium D1

The Dendrobium D1
The Dendrobium D1

A British newcomer due to be launched in 2022, the D1 is the ‘budget’ buy at £1 million.

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