It's Alive

THE RIMAC NEVERA ELECTRIC HYPERCAR MAKES A POWERFUL FIRST IMPRESSION.

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It's the sound that first gets you. EVs, even massively powerful ones, can feel synthetic, what with their eerie silence or space commander theme music. Then there are the sounds coming from the Rimac Nevera's four motors and their attendant reduction gears through the carbon-fiber conduit that is the one-piece chassis. They create the impression this thing is alive-connecting human and machine like no other EV has.

The Nevera brings an almost preposterous 1813 horsepower to bear via four AC motors, one driving each wheel with its own direct-drive gearbox. At full whack, the total output is rear-biased, because while the front motors produce 295 horsepower and 207 pound-feet of torque apiece, the two rear units each kick out a monster 644 horses and 664 pound-feet. The result is a claimed 1.9-second 60-mph time, 8.6-second quarter-mile, and 258-mph top speed.

Five preset drive modes tailor the motors' output, steering effort, and damper tuning. Sportiness ratchets up through Range, Cruise, Sport, and Track modes. Only Track unleashes all 1813 horses. Drift mode puts the front motors to bed while allowing the driver to light up the rears to the fullest.

The chassis is otherworldly, with immense torsional stiffness. It's bolstered by the massive 117.0-kWh battery pack, which is a fully stressed chassis member between and behind the seats with wings of cells spreading under occupants' feet. The absence of cells beneath the seats allows for a low H-point and roofline.