Electric hypercar-maker Rimac to develop robotaxis

The hypercar marque behind the wild 1408kW Bugatti-humbling Rimac Nevera is moving into driverless robotaxis, promising a concept later this year that should spin-off a production version due to be in service by 2026.

The new robotaxi will be developed by Rimac’s new Project 3 Mobility division.

Kia will be one of the key investors in the new autonomous car program, after parent Hyundai Motor Company took a $US90 million ($A135m) stake in Rimac back in 2019.

However, it’s not yet known just how much cash the Korean car-maker has stumped up for the robotaxi’s development.

Few details have been released on the forthcoming concept, but it’s expected to be capable of at least Level 4 autonomy, operating without input from occupants on board.

As well as building the physical car, Rimac says it will also create the chargers, storage hub and parking structures needed to store the vehicles when not in use.

It’s thought Kia could end up being Rimac’s production partner for the Robotaxi and possibly even share its existing E-GMP architecture that underpins the current Kia EV6.

Said to be a “completely different type” of car to anything on sale today, Rimac could be hatching a pod-like vehicle that will maximise space and aerodynamics – a theory bolstered by a company video in which its robotaxi prototypes are revealed as being based on the space-efficient last-generation Renault Espace people-mover.

Once in operation, Project 3’s website suggests that users of its new ride-hail service will be capable of controlling the Rimac robotaxi’s infotainment system using their own smartphone.

Rimac has reportedly already signed up five different cities to introduce its autonomous ride-hail service, with a further 35 cities around the world said to have expressed interest in the service.



It’s not known if Rimac will partner up with current ride-hail providers or go it alone.

Already supplying electric motor and battery technology to a broad spectrum of other car-makers, including Porsche and Hyundai, Rimac is best known for producing battery-electric hypercars.

Last year, Rimac set a mind-blowing 20 acceleration and braking records in just one day with its Nevera hypercar, including a 412km/h run to become the fastest EV on record.

If that wasn’t impressive enough, the Croatian car-maker’s engineers then set a new Guinness World Record in reverse gear, with the Nevera hitting 275.74km/h travelling backwards.

Its EV tech and expertise saw Rimac and Volkswagen Group-owned French hypercar-maker Bugatti form a joint-venture in 2021 to become Bugatti Rimac.

As part of a complex arrangement, the Croatian company took a controlling 55 per cent interest in the new business, with Porsche holding the final 45 per cent share.

It’s the latter that sees the German sports car brand get privileged access to Rimac’s EV tech that has helped it develop the incoming all-electric Macan, next-gen 718 Boxster/Cayman and a production version of the Mission X hypercar.