Rimac Nevera Sets New World Record For Reverse Speed

The manic Rimac Nevera EV can reverse faster than most sportscars going forward!

It appears that Rimac has not finished flexing the sheer performance of its flagship hypercar model, the Rimac Nevera. Not only the Nevera is the fastest-accelerating production car ever made, this hyper-EV is also the fastest-reversing car in the world, capable of going backwards faster than most sports cars going forward.

This record-setting feat sees the Nevera reversing at a whopping 171.34 MPH (275.74 KM/H) speed, thus shattering the previous record set by the Caterham 7 Fireblade over two decades ago, which only hit 102.58 MPH (165 KM/H). For reference, the new FL5-gen Honda Civic Type R boasts a claimed V-max of only 275 KM/H, thus making the Nevera’s record-breaking reverse feat much more impressive.

The Nevera's manic quad-motor setup, plus a pair of single-speed gearboxes allows the hyper-EV to accelerate almost as fast in either direction

Unlike the fossil-gouging Caterham, the Nevera is benefited from its quad electric motor setup that delivers a mind-boggling total system output of 1,888 HP, plus a pair of single-speed gearboxes which theoretically allows it to go almost as fast in either direction. The only thing hampering this hyper-EV from matching its forward top speed record of 256 MPH (412 KM/H) is in the car’s overall design, which is obviously designed for the car to go forward in the first place.

Matija Renic, chief program engineer for the Rimac Nevera said the team is aware that the Nevera could become the fastest-reversing car in the world during its development phase, with simulations indicating that this hyper-EV could reach speeds of over 150 MPH backward, in spite of not being designed to go fast in reverse.

“It occurred to us during development that the Nevera would probably be the world’s fastest car in reverse, but we kind of laughed it off,” said Mate Rimac, CEO of Bugatti Rimac.

“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 150 mph (241 km/h) but we didn’t have much of an idea how stable it would be – we were entering uncharted territory.”

In spite of these circumstances, Rimac test driver Goran Drndak was impressed with the stability of the Nevera during its record-breaking feat, with the driver saying that the driving experience “took some getting used to”, while taking some precautions like gently moving the steering wheel and watch his braking point to prevent the car from being unstable.

Aside from this new record, the Rimac Nevera currently holds more than 24 world records under its belt

This latest record-shattering feat by the Rimac Nevera at the Automotive Testing Papenburg facility in Germany has brought the hyper-EV’s world-record tally to a whopping 24. Aside from records for the fastest 0-249-0 MPH run, the Nevera has also shattered the Nurburgring lap time for the fastest production EV, completing the infamous ‘Green Hell’ in 7 minutes and 5.298 seconds.