The Rimac SUV Isn't Your Average Super-Sized Electric Off-Roader

This new design shows how Rimac is a match for Lamborghini and Ferrari, spawning the fastest SUV with a monster EV powertrain.

The upcoming Bugatti Mistral will use an 8-liter W16 engine, but the brand will eventually have to create fully-electric models just like Rimac its partner brand. Rimac’s Nevera is a 1914-hp electric hypercar, with specs that make almost any other production car look tame, but we do have to wonder if the brand, like seemingly every other one, will release an SUV.

If Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Jaguar, Porsche, Lotus and many other iconic brands now have SUVs in their lineup, it wouldn’t be surprising for both Bugatti and Rimac to also pursue the same lucrative ends.

This render courtesy of HotCars artist Timothy Adry Emmanuel shows how a Rimac SUV could look if Rimac allowed it to be, and if it ever does surface it may follow design principles similar to the render you see before you.

UPDATED APRIL 2023: Article gets updated with any new information on the Rimac brand’s lineup, as well as the theoretical alternatives to the Rimac SUV on sale today.

Ok, so a Rimac SUV might not feature the same powertrain as the Nevera, but if it did – which there’s no reason why it would not – it would have the same 1914 hp, 120 kWh electric powertrain.

Due to the SUV’s height, weight, drivetrain, and tires it probably wouldn’t have the same 1.97 seconds to 60 mph time, the same 8.6 second ¼-mile time, or 9.3 seconds to 186 mph time as the Nevera.

What it would have is hugely-increased ground clearance combined with bead-lock rugged off-road wheels and tires. Around the Rimac car in the render is black cladding that extends from the front bumper round the wheel arches and along the side skirts, culminating at the rear which is simple in its design.

The SUV design is blue like the Rimac Nevera parked at its side in the main image, but as we can see, the main features of the car are distinct, creating a whole new ethos and potentially a new design language.

So, the render uses the headlamps and rear lights to great effect to create an original look that compliments the Nevera due to the futuristic and simple design.

Up front, the lights are white LED bands which curve down around inlets that look like air ducts, these are possibly inspired by the dual inlets in the lower bumper of the Nevera.

Round the back, the upright rectangle light units feature a unique design that stands out from most other designs we have seen so far, rejecting the ubiquitous light bar and other fripperies to keep things looking clean and plain.

The render has a distinctive style of its own, which would prove eye-catching on the road (or trail) which is surely a good thing for Rimac, in a sea of lookalike SUVs.

It would cost a pretty penny, too so you might not want to take it off-road after all: the Rimac Nevera costs an estimated $2.2 million and only 150 will get built. That’s pretty exclusive, but then all the electric hypercar alternatives are similarly exclusive at this level.

The Lotus Evija is an upcoming electric hypercar which will also cost more than $2 million and gets limited to 130 units. Meanwhile, the Pininfarina Battista, which is a cousin of the Nevera, is the same story.

Rimac against all odds is a name to take seriously in 2023, although perhaps not against all odds, as the brand got invested in by Porsche, and recently the two companies set up a partnership with Bugatti to form Bugatti Rimac. Batteries are big business and the Croatian company also impressed with its production cars like the aforementioned Rimac Nevera.

Both Bugatti and Rimac brands won’t be releasing an SUV according to various statements on record, but Ferrari did say the same thing some years ago. Of course back then the market was a little different but SUVs have been growing in popularity for the last couple of decades.

Fast-forward to 2023 and Ferrari make an SUV called the Purosangue – that is definitely not an SUV – and this, along with the Lamborghini Urus makes up the elite super-SUV group.

Other premium brands like Porsche, Alfa Romeo and Maserati all have SUVs in their portfolio and all have multiple variants in distinct segments, like the crossover.

Super SUVs include the Urus and Purosangue, but also the Aston Martin DBX, Bentley Bentayga and Mercedes-Benz/BMW have their own lineups of SUVs. A Rimac SUV would be the first fully-electric performance SUV from a brand not known for producing vehicles outside hypercars. This would be similar to Koenigsegg producing an SUV, which is also not likely to happen.

As someone famously said, never say never.