RE: Porsche acquires stake in Rimac

RE: Porsche acquires stake in Rimac

Wednesday 20th June 2018

Porsche acquires stake in Rimac

Porsche's push to electrification continues with Croatian collaboration



Some interesting news out of Stuttgart this morning, with Porsche announcing it has purchased a ten per cent stake in Rimac Automobili, manufacturer of electric supercars and nemesis of Richard Hammond. Complete machines such as the Concept One and 1,914hp 'C Two' aren't all the Croatian company is known for, however, it also happening to be at the cutting edge of componentry including high-voltage batteries and electric powertrains.

Following the move the German marque will look to establish a development partnership with Rimac. Having previously worked with brands such as Aston Martin, Jaguar, Renault and Koenigsegg, as well as on its own vehicles, the relatively young enterprise's expertise should come in handy as Porsche looks to pivot into the electric vehicle market in the coming years.


Back in 2015 Porsche announced its intention to release a road-going version of its Mission E concept - more recently the Taycan - by the end of the decade. That car was vaunted to have over 600hp, a 0-62 time of under 3.5 seconds, a range in excess of 300 miles, and be capable of achieving an 80 per cent charge in just 15 minutes.

Rimac's C Two, meanwhile, made its debut at this year's Geneva show boasting over three times Porsche's target power output, a 1.85 second (!) 0-60 time and an NEDC range of 400 miles. It can also achieve an 80 per cent battery charge in 30 minutes; not quite what Porsche promised, but not too far off either given the extra range. In short, it isn't hard to see where the two company's interests converge.  


Speaking about the deal, Lutz Meschke, Member of the Executive Board for Finance and IT at Porsche, said: "By developing the purely electric two-seaters super sports cars, like the 'Concept One' or 'C Two', as well as core vehicle systems, Rimac has impressively demonstrated its credentials in the field of electromobility. We feel that Rimac's ideas and approaches are extremely promising, which is why we hope to enter into close collaboration with the company in the form of a development partnership."

What this will mean for Rimac's own automotive output is anyone's guess, with founder Mate Rimac adding that, "This partnership now is an important step for Rimac on our way to becoming a component and system supplier of choice for the industry." Perhaps indicating that the company's future lies away from cars of its own. Whatever happens, though, Rimac has certainly done an exceptional job of creating exciting, useable electric cars and, most importantly, succeeded in getting them from the drawing board to the road. If its approach can influence Porsche's future electric output, it will surely be no bad thing.

Author
Discussion

Harry_mac

Original Poster:

350 posts

98 months

Wednesday 20th June 2018
quotequote all
Porsche chassis, Rimac powertrains

That's a pretty much game over for the rest of the sports car world isnt it? bow

David87

6,648 posts

211 months

Wednesday 20th June 2018
quotequote all
Harry_mac said:
Porsche chassis, Rimac powertrains

That's a pretty much game over for the rest of the sports car world isnt it? bow
Only if you're deaf. hehe

Dale487

1,334 posts

122 months

Wednesday 20th June 2018
quotequote all
Strikes me as a very good match - both engineering lead companies.

Mate Rimac seems more my kind of person than Elon Musk - he seemed to take Richard Hammond's crash in good humour & not threatened to sue him or GT.

Buggyjam

539 posts

78 months

Wednesday 20th June 2018
quotequote all
This is interesting!

Now unlike that embarrassing Taycan launch video this doesn’t leave me as cold. The Rimac is one electric car I’ve found comes close to recognising some of the issues. Not there yet, but it’s not left me feeling all is lost.

GranCab

2,902 posts

145 months

Wednesday 20th June 2018
quotequote all
Egolon Musk has just shat himself ....

ST565NP

553 posts

81 months

Wednesday 20th June 2018
quotequote all
Great news for both companies. And Rimac Concept One is not silent, has some special non artificial sound, very good.

Buggyjam

539 posts

78 months

Wednesday 20th June 2018
quotequote all
ST565NP said:
Great news for both companies. And Rimac Concept One is not silent, has some special non artificial sound, very good.
I think it’s noteworthy that Mate Rimac described Rimac cars as being built by petrol heads. There’s still a huge way to go for various expectations but with a core understanding at its heart I’ve held faith in Rimac. I hope this rubs onto Porsche .

Amizade

284 posts

224 months

Wednesday 20th June 2018
quotequote all
plus also if (as I've heard) Bentley is going all electric by 2025, Rimac will provide a decent parts bin for VAG

ps will all VAG products be banned from a certain Hill Climb in Hemberg ?

swisstoni

16,850 posts

278 months

Wednesday 20th June 2018
quotequote all
Clear now why the boss of Rimac wasn’t bothered when Hammond nearly incinerated himself on global TV. This was already in the bag.

unpc

2,831 posts

212 months

Wednesday 20th June 2018
quotequote all
It might be good news for Rimac in the short term but I can imagine non VAG OEMs being unwilling to partner them on projects from now on.

sidesauce

2,456 posts

217 months

Wednesday 20th June 2018
quotequote all
unpc said:
It might be good news for Rimac in the short term but I can imagine non VAG OEMs being unwilling to partner them on projects from now on.
Considering VAG is (depending on the given year) the world's largest car manufacturing group, I'd not really care too much about that if I was Mate Rimac.

Talksteer

4,843 posts

232 months

Thursday 21st June 2018
quotequote all
GranCab said:
Egolon Musk has just shat himself ....
He may well have done but probably just because he leads such a stressed lifestyle.

Porsche and Jaguar might be in a position to sell electric cars that are there or thereabouts with Tesla in performance by the end of this year or the next.

However I don't see an VW or BMW gigafactory in anything other than planning stages so I doubt they would be in a position to produce nearly as many electric vehicles as Tesla for at least another two years or so.

Tesla currently has issues with fulfilling demand not creating it.

Also the Tesla Roadster mkII is a match for the next Rimac but at 1/8th the cost.

RobDickinson

31,343 posts

253 months

Thursday 21st June 2018
quotequote all
swisstoni said:
Clear now why the boss of Rimac wasn’t bothered when Hammond nearly incinerated himself on global TV. This was already in the bag.
That was a year ago, the concept cars are really just showcase hypercars to promote the rest of the business as such I doubt Hammond crashing one was bad for rimac..

They want to work with everyone, wonder how Porsche will feel about that?

GranCab

2,902 posts

145 months

Thursday 21st June 2018
quotequote all
The established European car manufacturers will wipe the floor with Tesla within the next 10 years - that's if Tesla hasn't imploded in the meantime.

Tesla has some serious issues to deal with if it wishes to remain viable.

rodericb

6,660 posts

125 months

Thursday 21st June 2018
quotequote all
Talksteer said:
GranCab said:
Egolon Musk has just shat himself ....
He may well have done but probably just because he leads such a stressed lifestyle.

Porsche and Jaguar might be in a position to sell electric cars that are there or thereabouts with Tesla in performance by the end of this year or the next.

However I don't see an VW or BMW gigafactory in anything other than planning stages so I doubt they would be in a position to produce nearly as many electric vehicles as Tesla for at least another two years or so.

Tesla currently has issues with fulfilling demand not creating it.

Also the Tesla Roadster mkII is a match for the next Rimac but at 1/8th the cost.
Musk has said in the past that he's not there to build the next General Motors - he's there to 'change the world' and that's by way of increasing the use of renewable energy and, more recently, by commercialising space. I think he might have hoped that the partnerships/relationships with MB or Toyota may have ended up with a buy-out but obviously not now. He'll get this Tesla business established and make his exit. It's what he seems to do.

Amanitin

419 posts

136 months

Thursday 21st June 2018
quotequote all
Talksteer said:
However I don't see an VW or BMW gigafactory in anything other than planning stages so I doubt they would be in a position to produce nearly as many electric vehicles as Tesla for at least another two years or so.
very much this. The legacy auto makers who will supposedly wipe the floor with Tesla within ten years, do not have any meaningful battery production, nor do they have a meaningful supercharger network. Tesla's primary advantage at this point is vertical integration, not the cars themselves.

Vertical integration does not pop up overnight just by throwing money at it. It takes years to roll out a gigafactory and install hundreds of chargers. Ground braking for the gigafactory was in 2014 and it is still far from full capacity. In addition, with the acquisition of Solar City, Tesla is a 'fuel' producer.

Competition will not kill Tesla any time soon. It will be ZIRP, more specifically the end of it. Once capital starts to flow back from equity into credit on a global level, a huge stock market correction takes place and Tesla will not be able to refinance. If they are very lucky, they will reach their desired economy of scale by that time. But it is getting tight.

Plug Life

978 posts

90 months

Thursday 21st June 2018
quotequote all
Amanitin said:
The legacy auto makers who will supposedly wipe the floor with Tesla within ten years, do not have any meaningful battery production
China/Asia will be the place of battery production just like of all electronics nowadays. 130GWh manufacturing capacity is planned for the next couple of years.

redroadster

1,729 posts

231 months

Thursday 21st June 2018
quotequote all
Is there enough electric to go around ? Think not if millions turn to milk floats

redroadster

1,729 posts

231 months

Thursday 21st June 2018
quotequote all
Is there enough electric to go around ? Think not if millions turn to milk floats

jjwilde

1,904 posts

95 months

Thursday 21st June 2018
quotequote all
redroadster said:
Is there enough electric to go around ? Think not if millions turn to milk floats
Yes. The national grid actually recently released a pamphlet to explain they are more than capable of supplying that much electricity and that it won't require hundreds of new power stations or whatever guff people keep spouting.