Monday, 26 April 2021

Mate Rimac Races C_Two against Porsche Taycan (VIDEO)

April 26, 2021 - Rimac C_Two against Porsche Taycan - which is faster? Mate Rimac races to find out. 

Mate Rimac published a video of the race between the Rimac C_Two and Porsche Taycan Turbo S on the runway of the airport in Nova Gorica. The C_Two he drove was one of only five prototypes, Rimac said, and announced that he would invite journalists to test it in the coming weeks. Rimac C_Two will not be the official model name, though Rimac said it will be announced soon.

 

"The car is not finished yet, there is still room for improvement," he says.

Despite a poor start, Rimac C_Two overtook Porsche and was the first to cross the finish line.

"Of course, not everything is accelerating," said Rimac and announced significant progress in the car's performance in the next few weeks.

The Bugatti Chiron currently holds the record with 9.4 seconds for a quarter-mile, while Rimac was just under 9 seconds. 

Rimac C_Two is an electric hypercar presented in 2018 at the Geneva Motor Show. ‘A car brought together with technology', as some have called it, has seen a lot of hype in the automotive world.

According to Rimac, it reaches a speed of 415 kilometers per hour, develops a power of as much as 1914 horsepower, and reaches 100 in less than two seconds, so it is currently one of the cars with the highest acceleration in the world.

The C_Two is unlocked by the face recognition system, and in just half an hour it will charge 80 percent of the battery that drives it.

For the sake of humor, a fire extinguisher has been added to C_Two with the inscription "if driving uphill, put out the fire" as a reference to the famous Grand Tour crash when Richard Hammond was behind the wheel of Rimac's Concept One.

Rimac Automobili previously announced that they need about eight weeks to produce each prototype, which is twice as fast as the previous production process. In full operation, the factory will be able to produce up to four prototypes per month. This means that the entire batch of 150 should be produced in three years.

For more news about everything made in Croatia, be sure to follow TCN’s dedicated page.

Tuesday, 19 January 2021

A Very Cool Croatian Map with Mate Rimac C_Two Supply Update

January 19, 2021 - While some leaders have social media accounts suspending for allegedly inciting violence, others use it as an effective tool to engage with their audience, leaders such as the man behind the Rimac C_Two.

This has to be one of the coolest maps featuring Croatia that I have ever seen. 

A map of global car dealerships for Croatia's only car producer. There are more global dealerships for Rimac Automobilii than the number of cars that the company has ever produced. Think about that for the moment. 

And even though the number of dealerships is growing, this will not be the case for long, as the Rimac C_Two goes into production. 

The map was posted by CEO Mate Rimac on his latest Facebook post yesterday. In an age where leaders are being banned for allegedly inciting violence, Rimac uses the tool extremely effectively to update people on progress, as well as to clear up misconceptions and misunderstandings, as is the case in his latest post, which is published in full below.

You can follow Mate Rimac on Facebook.

Something I wanted to clear up for a long time. During an interview with our Head of Sales a couple of years ago, a journalist misinterpreted (mistakenly or not) that the C_Two is sold out. That was not the case and still isn't, but has been repeated in many articles as a fact.

While it is not unusual for hypercars to be sold-out before they go into production, that is usually only the case for established brands, like Ferrari. The C_Two has many 'firsts' - first all-electric-hypercar (globally homologated), first series-production car of Rimac (a new and still relatively unknown brand) etc. It is a completely new market (there are no competitors in production yet) and nobody knows how customers will really react. Customers are very interested in the car but want to see how things play out - they want to try it before committing and see reviews. We are fully in line with that and have never pushed customers to commit before trying the car. There are, of course, many who trusted us enough and liked the car so much to pay a deposit very early on.



So far, only a few customers had the chance to try the C_Two (like Nico Rosberg for example). That is the case for several reasons - while we have made lots of prototypes already, we need every second of them for development, testing and homologation. It is always difficult to squeeze in customer test drives as it impacts testing. Also, the car is still in development so we don't want the customer to experience glitches or some rough edges that will be improved in the production car. The COVID situation makes traveling hard so that is another factor that is slowing things down.

Let's not forget that we still didn't present the production version with the new name - which we will do soon. In parallel, there will be lots of independent reviews coming, from top journalists/YouTubers from all over the world. We are currently building 3 marketing/sales cars that will be used for unveiling the production car, media test-drives, events world-wide (they will go on a world tour, despite the situation) and customer tests.



Nevertheless, we are very happy with how sales are progressing. What I can say is that we are sold-out for at least the first year of production, which was our initial goal - that sales are always at least 12 months ahead of production.

I was never scared of not selling the cars - I am sure that there will be more demand than the 150-unit limit that we have set ourselves. What I am working day and night on is to make sure that the car is as perfect as possible - and that it (over)delivers everything that we have promised - acceleration, features, top speed, range... If we get that right (and there is no indication that we won't), I am not worried about selling 150 units. I am pretty sure that all 150 units will be gone soon - after we present the final car, there will be a bunch of independent tests available and customers will have the opportunity to try it. We'll see.



I really believe that many people (journalists, customers) will be very surprised about the level of technology, performance, comfort and features we have managed to put together as a new company with limited resources. That's something I can't wait for - and we are almost there.

Maybe also one thing to clarify - while many customers come directly to us, we as an OEM are actually selling cars to our partners - dealers that are representing us all over the world. There are currently 14 of those and more joining us almost every month. A car is "sold" for us when the dealer orders it - which doesn't necessarily mean that the dealer has sold it to an end customer. So it might happen that some end-customers, can still get a low VIN number (early delivery), if their local dealer has a slot that is not allocated to an end-user customer.



Hope that this gives some clarity on the situation - just wanted to be open and honest about it as it felt like lying when I see that in articles, while we have actually never said that we are sold out.

For the latest in the Rimac story, follow the dedicated TCN section.

Monday, 18 January 2021

Rimac Automobili Advancing Towards C_Two Series Production

January 18, 2021 - Rimac Automobili has announced that they are advancing towards the C_Two series production this year.

Index.hr reports that the pre-series production phase began in December.

"Eyes on the future. With the start of the pre-series vehicle production in December, we are advancing towards the series production of the C_Two in 2021. The pre-series cars will have a fit and finish, drivability, and reliability that is nearly production-ready. They will be used for further minor tweaks, homologation tests, durability tests, trim experimentation, NVH tweaking, and global product evaluation. It’s an important year ahead of us. We appreciate your support every step of the way!" Rimac announced on Facebook on January 2, 2021. 

"Walking around here and finally, after ten years of blood, sweat, and tears, seeing it all come together - what a feeling. Pre-series production ramping up and getting ready for customer cars," Mate Rimac revealed on his personal Facebook account on Thursday, January 14. 

Mate Rimac wrote on Facebook that he would produce numerous cars in this line this year if everything goes according to plan.

The assembly of each C_Two car will take approximately five weeks, halving the production time compared to the principle of static production outside the production line, used by some other supersport car manufacturers. The new process at full capacity will enable the construction of four final production vehicles per month.

However, at Rimac, the production process begins before the assembly of finished components on the line, since many components and systems are produced in the factory in Sveta Nedelja and Veliko Trgovišće, after which it is delivered to the vehicle assembly line.

The new production line is divided into five main zones. It begins with the attachment of all brackets and attachment points to the vehicle's carbon construction - the so-called monocoque chassis. The two technicians at each subsequent station then proceed to assemble the car piece by piece. Subassemblies such as the powertrain, dashboard or front radiator, and other parts are manufactured and prepared off-line, as part of Rimac Automobili's production facilities. They are delivered complete for installation on the vehicle assembly line.

The complete homologation process without any shortcuts, from the first concepts, through complete prototypes to cars on the road, is a three-year process. With the introduction of the new production line, Rimac Automobili will deliver the first cars to customers in 2021, unlike the original plan before the COVID-19 crisis, which foresaw deliveries in 2020. The final design and name of the vehicle will be revealed this year.

The German TV channel Welt also made a documentary about the origin of the model.

"We're working hard to design the car the way we envisioned it - a new type of hypercar that provides extreme electric drive performance and a new driving experience for the driver. At the same time, it will be a technical masterpiece from an engineering point of view. C_Two will have a new driving experience, high communicative handling, and first-class dynamics that will define our new car. We want this car to be intuitive and usable, but at the same time, sharp and capable. The testing and tuning process is crucial to ensure that our promises are met. Driving the C_Two will be something completely different," said Rimac.

To read more about business in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

Sunday, 26 January 2020

C_Two with a View: Croatian Excellence Reaches New Heights in Singapore

January 26, 2020 - The Rimac Automobili roadshow continues, with a room with a view for the new C_Two in Singapore. 

If there is one man who seems to be having a lot of fun these days, it is Mate Rimac, the charismatic man behind the Rimac Automobili phenomenon, which has grown from playing around with a car in a garage to one of the most exciting automotive and technology companies in the world in less than a decade. A company which now has A-lister industry investors such as Porsche and Hyundai and - last time I checked - employed 600 people. Not bad in a country which had no car industry whatsoever when he started. 

I have met Rimac a few times, and the overwhelming impression he leaves is one of positivity, as well an almost chilldlike passion for what he does - impatient to get onto the latest innovation to break new barriers. 

c_two-singapore (3).jpg

And it is clear that he is not the only one having fun in the company, whose Facebook page yesterday featured a new frontier for the iconic new C_Two from Rimac - a showroom with a view in Singapore. 

A room with a view! The C_Two at the top balcony of our South East Asia Partner Wearnes' Singapore showroom.

Mere mortals like most of us will of course never be able to afford a C_Two of our own in ten lifetimes, but for those of you who like to celebrate the success of others, especially Croatian success, I heartily recommend you follow the official Rimac Automobili Facebook page

I am not sure how you take the C_Two for a test drive from such an elevated showroom, but it would not surprise me if Rimac had a solution. 

c_two-singapore (1).jpg

And for those of you taking part in the current social media fad presenting your profile on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Tinder, RImac Automobili is pretty hard to beat. 

To follow the latest Rimac news from Croatia and elevated showrooms around the world, follow the dedicated TCN section

Monday, 9 September 2019

VIDEO: Rimac's Incredible C_Two Completes First Crash Test Round

Mate Rimac and his company Rimac Automobili are continuing to succeed in placing Croatia somewhere else on the map outside of the sunshine and sea bubble.

With his company having secured investment from the likes of Porsche, drawn the attention of Bugatti, and with him having drawn up a step by step plan to show the Croatian Government just how to actually attract investment and interest from the automotive industry, this unassuming man from Livno, Bosnia and Herzegovina, has become somewhat of a phenomenon. Rightly so.

His super cars, the C_One and C_Two, are admired across the world, and they're made right here in Croatia, in a factory in Sveta Nedelja near Zagreb. Not bad for a country which seems to want to do everything in its power to make it as difficult as possible for budding entrepreneurs, sending them instead abroad with a disdain for red tape to pitch their ideas and make their money.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 8th of September, 2019, Rimac Automobili has posted a video on the company's YouTube channel in which the safety of the beautiful new C_Two model is tested by the use of a popular crash test.

The video shows the C_Two prototype just before a frontal collision, but also a number of others, so it can be easily concluded that more than one of Rimac's vehicles has been ''sacrificed'' so far.

''Mate always says: This is a marathon, not a sprint race. The C_Two is undergoing a brutal crash test program and hundreds of other tests as part of its global approval. We decided to take you on this journey and show you everything. This is just a little glimpse into the future, stay tuned for more development-related content,'' the comment says in the YouTube video.

Watch the video here:

In an official statement, Rimac Automobili has stated that it will start production in 2020.

Make sure to follow our dedicated Made in Croatia pages for more information on Mate Rimac and his creations, and much more on Croatian companies, entrepreneurs, innovation and products.

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