Porsche snaps up share of electric hypercar maker

Porsche has announced it has purchased a 10 per cent stake in Rimac for an undisclosed amount.

Fresh from naming its first ever pure-electric car, the Taycan, the move by Porsche to invest in the Croatian hypercar-maker is thought to give it access to Rimac's pure-electric powertrain technology.

Rimac, meanwhile, will reportedly benefit from access, via Porsche, to other Volkswagen Group brands that could be supplied with its powertrain and pure-electric technology.

Commenting on the deal, Porsche board member Lutz Meschke said: "We feel that Rimac's ideas and approaches are extremely promising, which is why we hope to enter into close collaboration with the company in the form of a development partnership."

Porsche is believed to have been attracted to Rimac's expertise in the high-voltage battery technology needed to supply huge amounts of current to produce the epic power outputs required for hypercar levels of performance.

Earlier this year, Rimac revealed the C_Two that is capable of hitting 100km/h in 1.95 seconds and 300km/h in just 11.8 seconds.

On sale in 2020, the Porsche Taycan is only the first of several pure-electric vehicles based on the car-maker's 'J1' architecture.