After teaming up with Pininfarina for the Battista and with Aston Martin for the Valkyrie, Croatian performance EV brand Rimac is now joining forces with the Hyundai–Kia conglomerate.
One of the vehicles will be an electric version of Hyundai’s mid-engined project.
After teaming up with Pininfarina for the Battista and with Aston Martin for the Valkyrie, Croatian performance EV brand Rimac is now joining forces with the Hyundai–Kia conglomerate. Founded in 2009, the company behind the fully electric Concept_One and Concept_Two supercars will allow the two South Korean brands to make use of its know-how regarding the development of high-performance EVs.
Hyundai is investing €64 million (approximately $72M at current exchange rates) while Kia is spending €16M ($18 million) to form the technical partnership with Rimac. According to the agreement, the companies will be working together on two performance-oriented electric vehicles by 2020, which is the same year when production of the C_Two will commence. The identity of these cars is being partially disclosed, with one of them being a fully electric variant of the Hyundai N’s “midship sports car” while the other is bound to be a performance fuel cell vehicle.
The “midship sports car” mentioned in the press release has been in development for years if we take into account Hyundai unveiled the Veloster Midship concept back in 2014, two years after kicking off the project. A year later, in 2015, the concept was updated for the RM15 by shaving off 195 kilograms (430 pounds) while retaining the 300-horsepower output from a turbocharged 2.0-liter gasoline.
In 2016, Hyundai tweaked the formula once again for the RM16 N that had a slightly revised exterior design. All three were lightweight, two-seater sports cars with a mid-engined layout and a low center of gravity, while the “RM” in their names stood for “Racing Mid-ship.” In June 2018, a camouflaged prototype was spotted undergoing testing.
Towards the end of 2018, Hyundai revealed plans for a flagship N model, with the rumor mill pointing towards the direction of a mid-engined car. That would make sense now that we know the project is still alive and is being modified to accommodate a fully electric powertrain with help from Rimac.
Source: Rimac Automobili
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