Hyundai N: EV sports car coming thanks to Rimac partnership

Thursday, 16 May 2019

Hyundai Motor Group has partnered with Rimac Automobili to develop an electric version of its upcoming N Performance mid-engined sports car, along with a high-performance fuel-cell car.

Hyundai and Kia (the Hyundai Motor Group) will invest €80 million (NZ$137 million) in Rimac Automobili, as part of a technical partnership that'll see the two high-performance, low-emissions sports cars lob in 2020.

The investment is dominated by Hyundai, which is pouring €64 million (NZ$109 million) into the project.

Rimac has attracted interest from a number of larger car manufacturers thanks to its expertise in EV tech.

Rimac is known for creating crazy electric supercars like the Concept One. With a whopping 1600Nm of torque and 910kW of power on tap, it'll scoot to 100km/h in just 2.5 seconds. That was more than fast enough to put Richard Hammond in serious trouble on The Grand Tour…

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Hyundai signaled its interest in N-branded cars beyond hot hatches with the N 2025 Vision Gran Tursimo concept in 2015.

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* Why Hyundai is our Top Car Brand of 2018

* Why the Hyundai i30 N is our Top Sports Car of 2018**

Recently it's become a supplier to Aston Martin and Koenigsegg, as its stature in the world of high-performance electric vehicles has grown.

'Rimac is an innovative company with outstanding capabilities in high-performance electric vehicles,' said Euisun Chung, executive vice chairman of Hyundai Motor Group.

'Its startup roots and abundant experience collaborating with automakers combined with technological prowess makes Rimac the ideal partner for us. We look forward to collaborating with Rimac on our road to Clean Mobility.'

Beyond the partnership, we know nothing more about Hyundai's upcoming e-sports car. We also don't know anything about the fuel-cell supercar. But it's exciting, right?