After breaking 23 production car records in a single day back in May, the Rimac Nevera has now taken on the fabled Nurburgring Nordschliefe track in Germany, and comes away as the fastest electric production car the 'ring has ever seen.
Well... The Nevera's 7:05.298 makes it the fastest electric production car lap on street-legal tires, anyway – all the way back in 2017, China's NIO EP9 made it round the 'ring an impressive 20 seconds faster, but this lap has largely been discounted, because it seems that team didn't use street-legal tires, and may have used bespoke racing slicks.
Which means the outgoing champion is Tesla, not that any of this stuff is official in any sense. A Model S Plaid running a Track Pack option kit laid down a 7:25.231 back in June.
According to Croatian driver Martin Kodrić, conditions for Rimac's attempt were challenging due to unexpected high temperatures peaking at 28 °C (82.4 °F) on the day.
"We had challenging weather conditions during our practice sessions this week, and have chosen what seems like one of the hottest days on the track this summer to set a lap time," said Kodrić in a press release. "However, a 7:05:298 lap time at the Nürburgring Nordschleife is commendable. The fact that the Nevera can achieve this kind of speed on track, when it’s been developed to be a comfortable hyper GT for the road, is what makes it so special."
The Nevera still has some catching up to do if it wants to challenge the gasoline burners, which benefit from not having to carry a massive, heavy battery pack around. Germany's own Mercedes-AMG One hybrid hypercar is the outright production record holder, its 1.6-liter F1-derived hybrid powertrain, "race plus" mode aeros and suspension, and lightweight chassis combining to beat the Rimac by a healthy 30-odd seconds at 6:35.183.
Remove the production requirement, and Volkswagen's extraordinary ID.R electric race car laid down a savage 6:05:336 in 2018 with Romain Dumas at the wheel.
There appears to be only one car that's ever gone faster: a Porsche 919 Hybrid that was retired from Le Mans endurance racing and modified to remove power restrictions, reduce weight, massively cut down on drag and add lots of downforce. Timo Bernhard took the resulting 919 Hybrid Evo for a demonstration run at the Nurburgring back in 2018, and recorded a mind-boggling 5:19.546. So yes: news flash, Le Mans prototypes are a bit quick.
Enjoy Rimac's record-breaking lap below.
Source: Rimac Automobili
