WATCH: Rimac Nevera EV hits record 276km/h in reverse
World’s fastest production EV hits ‘R’ this time as Croatian hypercar marque earns fresh recordThe Rimac Nevera all-electric hypercar has set a new Guinness World Record for clocking an incredible 275.74km/h in reverse.
The record was independently verified at the Automotive Testing Papenburg facility in Germany, which is where the Rimac Nevera earlier this year set a mind-blowing 20 acceleration and braking records in a single day.
It’s also the same track the Nevera topped out at 412km/h along the two 4km straights, making it the fastest EV ever.
Nevera chief engineer Matija Renic said the latest top-speed run in reverse was an example of the hypercar-maker entering “unchartered territory”.
“It occurred to us during development that Nevera would probably be the world’s fastest car in reverse, but we kind of laughed it off,” said Renic.
“The aerodynamics, cooling and stability hadn’t been engineered for travelling backwards at speed, after all. But then we started to talk about how fun it would be to give it a shot.
“Our simulations showed that we could achieve well over 150mph (241km/h), but we didn’t have much of an idea how stable it would be.”
Driver Goran Drndak said the record attempt required huge concentration to gently steer the hypercar at high speed without upsetting the Nevera’s balance.
"You’re facing straight out backwards watching the scenery flash away from you faster and faster, feeling your neck pulled forwards in almost the same sensation you would normally get under heavy braking,” Drndak said.
Helping the Nevera set the high speed in reverse is its lack of gears, with the four motors driving each wheel independently
Combined, they produce an incredible 1408kW of power and an astonishing 2360Nm of torque.
Going forward, the Rimac Nevera can accelerate from 0-97km/h (0-60mph) in 1.74 seconds and reach the quarter mile in just 8.25 seconds.
In August, the Nevera also set a new lap record for an EV around Germany’s gruelling Nurburgring Nordschleife circuit (7:05:298), demolishing the previous record set by the Tesla Model S Plaid with Track Pack (7:25.231).
That’s still some distance behind the Mercedes-AMG ONE petrol-electric hybrid hypercar, which holds the outright record for a road-legal production car at the ‘Green Hell’ (6:35.183).
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