There’s a major difference between prototypes and pre-production cars, and Rimac has moved on to the latter for 2021.
As the Rimac C_Two gets closer to the end of its global validation program, we get a rare peek into the process that takes a startup carmaker from a wind tunnel buck and several crashed subcomponents towards the construction of full crash cars and other crucial prototypes. Then, finally, there’s the pre-production series that locks in the final design as Rimac gears up for the first customer cars to leave the factory. For Rimac and its C_Two partner Pininfarina, the year of truth will be 2021, with two of the eight validation prototypes currently still on the assembly line, and six pre-series cars scheduled for completion soon enough.
There’s a major difference between the Rimac test cars we’ve seen so far and the pre-production run being built now. While the early cars show the 1,914-horsepower EV as it looked at its concept stage almost two years ago, the new ones hidden under camouflage will feature all the design and tech upgrades the customers will get once the C_Two is approved for global deliveries. Before the big reveal, however, for this final run of prototypes, Rimac will use a number of exciting exterior shades including purple and light blue, as well as bright yellow and grey for the last two validation cars, which are probably destined for the wall.
As company founder and CEO Mate Rimac explains, there are a number of ways one can produce a low-volume hypercar after years of experimenting, be that electric or something with a throaty combustion powertrain. Rimac, of course, has gone the EV-only route and is currently finding ways to accelerate assembly processes, improve fit and finish, and fine-tune the various carbon fiber paint methods. All this while making sure each of the C_Two’s 776 fixings is perfectly laminated, connected and digitally scanned before the highly complex drive and computer systems get bolted and plugged into the monocoque.
Clear coats and matching carbon fiber wave patterns aside, the paint must be uniform since the C_Two’s roof is actually an exposed component of the chassis.
Rushing towards the finish line against other hyper EVs such as the Lotus Evija and the much lesser-known Aspark Owl from Japan, the C_Two platform will spawn 150 Rimac hypercars, as well as 150 more built as Pininfarina Battistas.
One can only hope that after all this carefully planned destruction, a few C_Two validation and pre-production cars survive to become factory demonstrators, press cars, exhibits next to Rimac’s main coffee machine, or just toys for the engineers and crew in Croatia. They’ve been working rather hard lately.
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