LONDON -- Electric-car maker Rimac will unveil its C_Two electric hypercar at the Geneva auto show in March.
The 1914-hp C_Two is the Croatian startup's first full production car.
Rimac will build 150 examples of the C_Two starting from the end of 2020, the company's founder, Mate Rimac, said.
The C-Two will cost 2.2 million euros ($2.42 million).
The model is the second car the company has developed under its own name, but the C_Two is the first to be homologated for global sales.
Rimac's first car, the 1224-hp Concept_One electric hypercar, was sold under "show and display" rules which allows limited road driving in the U.S. Its production was restricted to eight units. Five have been delivered, with three still in production.
The Concept_One gained Rimac attention from automakers looking for an edge when developing their own high-performance electric cars. Porsche took a stake in the company in 2018 and increased its investment in September.
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Hyundai also bought a stake in the company in May and announced that Rimac would help develop two sports cars.
The C_2 is powered by four electric motors. Rimac said it can accelerate from 0 to 97 kph (60 mph) in under two seconds. Its top speed is 415 kph (258 mph).
The 120 kilowatt-hour battery pack gives a range of 550 km (342 miles) under the WLTP emissions cycle. The battery can be charged to 80 percent of its capacity in under two minutes using the car's 250 Kilowatt fast charger, Rimac said.
A concept previewing the car was revealed at the 2018 Geneva auto show.
The car will be built at Rimac's factory in a suburb of Zagreb, Croatia, alongside the Pininfarina Battista, which Rimac will build on the same platform as the C_Two. The factory will build one a week of each model when production begins late next year.
Rimac expects the C_Two will appeal to a new type of hypercar buyer – customers who want performance but are also concerned about climate change.
"It unlocks a certain customer who might have the funds to buy such a vehicle, but hasn’t before because it doesn’t fit with their environmental beliefs," Rimac told journalists at an event in London to announce a tie-up with UK dealer group HR Owen to sell the car.
However, Rimac said the benefits of switching from a gasoline engine to electric motors in such a low-volume segment were probably more symbolic than real. "It’s questionable if makes any difference to the environment whether a hypercar is electric or not," he said.
Autonomous capability
The C_2 will have Level 4 autonomous capability to enable the car to drive itself on race tracks in order to teach drivers the fastest line.
Rimac has worked with UK-based autonomous race car developers Roborace on the technology, and the car will have at least one lidar sensor, as well six radar sensors, nine cameras and 12 ultrasonic sensors.
The interior will have six screens, including one for the passenger.
Two of the screens are surrounded by circular dials that give control of the functions in manner of the latest smartwatches and include the ability to shuffle power between the front wheels and back wheels, enabling drivers to make the car fully rear-wheel-drive or even fully front-wheel drive, should they want.
The C_2 will compete with the Battista as well as the forthcoming Lotus Evija electric hypercar, will have around 2000 hp and is restricted to 130 cars. The Evija will be slightly cheaper at 2 million euros than the C_2.
