The Bite Magazine - Autmn/Winter 2020 - Issue 28

bitecars various cooling channels that animate to provide the best possi- ble efficiency and performance at all times. Final Word From one bold idea, Mate Rimac, CEO and founder of Rimac Automobili has cemented his company as a technology pow- erhouse manufacturing electric hypercars and providing tech- nology to global automotive manufacturers. His inspiration can be attributed to Nikola Tesla, a fellow Eastern European, who developed and designed the modern AC electricity supply sys- tem in New York that took the world by storm; which can be easily converted to DC and is used in many devices and national infrastructure. At a time when electric cars were regarded as slow, unfashion- able, and dull, Mate wanted to prove that electric cars could compete with the likes of high-performance supercars like Lam- borghini, Porsche, and Ferrari. His first car, a white BMW E30 323i, which he used for motor racing, would later be converted into an electric car after the original engine exploded. Painted in a shade of green, ‘The Green Monster’ became the prototype for the Concept One. With development comes improvement, and Mate was able to turn a financial turmoil into a winning streak with no compro- mise; when told he had to move his business to the United Arab Emirates to secure further funding or when he reached out to suppliers and investors for parts, they were phenomenally high, he declined both. Instead, becoming the supplier of electric motors and parts to other companies was a strategic move that funded the company to develop further and produce the Con- cept One. Thanks to this innovative move, Rimac was able to introduce the masses to Concept S, a lighter, more aerodynamic, and track-oriented variant of Concept One. Whilst it has the same acceleration rate of 0-60 mph in 2.5 seconds as the original model, Concept S has a higher top speed of 226 mph, an in- crease of 15 mph. It also weighs 50 kgs less than Concept One thanks to modifications in the car’s carbon fibre shell and fea- tures carbon fibre front splitters, side skirts, racing slicks, and a large rear wing. Today, we have C_Two, the successor to the Concept One, which is described as a ‘significant technological leap’ and dubbed ‘a car alive with technology’. Mate has not only achieved his dream of building the world’s first electric sports car, but he has also provided us with a phenomenally improved version of the origi- nal whose conventional doors have been replaced with butterfly doors, thanks to Concept One designer Adriano Mudri. The production version of the C_Two concept will be on track for customer deliveries in 2021. https://www.rimac-automobili.com