Rimac announced today that its Nevera EV broke the Guinness World Record for Top Speed in Reverse, as the vehicle topped out at 171.34 miles per hour or 275.74 kilometers per hour.
During recent testing, the Nevera was accompanied by Rimac employees and the Guinness World Records, attempting to hold the official title for fastest speed in reverse. Earlier this year, the Nevera was responsible for dethroning cars from more than 20 acceleration and braking records in a single day, one of which was the top-speed run of 256 MPH (412 km/h).
But the reverse top speed record had not been captured by the Nevera, which can go from 0-100 MPH in 3.21 seconds moving forward. The EV’s lack of gears and use of four all-electric motors helped it achieve one of the most incredible feats in the history of speed records.
“It occurred to us during development that Nevera would probably be the world’s fastest car in reverse, but we kind of laughed it off,” Matija Renić, Chief Program Engineer for the Nevera, said.
It was new grounds for the Nevera team at Rimac-Bugatti, and the accomplishment was something the team did not think it would ever attempt.
“The aerodynamics, cooling, and stability hadn’t been engineered for traveling backwards at speed, after all. But then, we started to talk about how fun it would be to give it a shot,” he added. “Our simulations showed that we could achieve well over 150mph, but we didn’t have much of an idea how stable it would be – we were entering unchartered territory.”
To highlight the significance and overall ridiculousness of the record, Rimac notes that the Lamborghini Miura became the fastest production car in the world in 1967 by being the first to break through the 170 MPH barrier.
The Nevera just did this, but in reverse.
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