Rimac Nevera sets new top speed record of 258 mph

Rimac Nevera has set a new top speed record for electric production cars with an impressive 258 mph (412 km/h).

Just a few months ago, I was standing next to a tarmac at the Trois-Rivières airport in Quebec to watch an electric car, the Tesla Model S, reach over 200 mph for the first time.

It reached a top speed of 216 mph (348 km/h)

That record didn’t last long.

Rimac announced today that it achieved a new top speed record of 412 km/h (258 mph) with the Nevara, its all-electric hypercar:

The Rimac Nevera has set a top speed of 412kph (258mph), making it the fastest electric production car in the world. The record-breaking feat follows on from the Nevera’s independently verified 8.582-second quarter-mile run in 2021, which made it the world’s fastest accelerating production car.

The team achieved that feat on the Automotive Testing Papenburg track’s 4 km straight in Germany.

Rimac released a video about the achievement:

While some might raise an eyebrow for calling it a record for a “production electric car” considering Rimac is producing the Nevara in extremely limited volume, it is technically a production car – and what might be most impressive is that it was equipped with road-legal Michelin Cup 2R tires.

However, it’s important to note that this top speed is only achievable with support from Rimac’s team, and as standard, the Nevara delivered to customers is limited to 219 mph (352 km/h):

The Nevera is delivered to customers with a limited top speed of 219mph (352kph) but can achieve the 412kph (258mph) top speed in special customer events with the support from the Rimac team and under controlled conditions. As tires are under a huge amount of stress during such runs, most of the pre-cautions are directed towards making sure that the tires are properly set-up for such high speeds. Production of the Nevera is currently underway at Rimac’s HQ on the outskirts of Zagreb, Croatia, and the first cars are already with customers around the world.

That’s still a record top speed for electric vehicles, and the new 412 km/h (258 mph) special top speed is getting closer to Bugatti’s 305 mph record.

Considering Rimac and Bugatti now operate under the same organization, they could potentially learn from each other in order to push top speeds to new records.

Here’s a look from inside the vehicle as it achieved the top speed with the VBOX: