Mate Rimac, the CEO and founder of Rimac Technologies, likes to talk about his old E30. From press interviews at The Quail to his memoirs, the Croatian inventor says that his current success is due to the fact that he converted his 1984 BMW 3-series by hand into an all-electric car. Tuesday, Rimac Technology and the BMW Group revealed a new, long-term partnership. This gives the 36-year-old the chance to give back to the company that started it all. The company Rimac says this is the biggest partnership it has ever had, and it will help BMW with its future battery development work. BMW is using Rimac’s battery research and production facilities in Zagreb, Croatia, to develop more innovative battery solutions. Rimac and BMW will work together on automatic battery production lines so that this much can be made. BMW will take up a lot of space on the almost 50-acre site. From small beginnings to a big, long-term partnership with one of the biggest automakers in the world, the company says this is a turning point in Rimac Technology’s past. It’s a clear sign that Rimac Technology has changed from a high-performance, specialized source to a company that can make a lot of things. BMW is putting out a whole line of electric cars and SUVs, which shows that it wants to make more electric vehicles. At the moment, most of BMW’s electric vehicles (EVs) are made at the company’s Dingolfing plant, where they work with cars that have internal combustion engines. In the same way, BMW has said it will switch all of its factories to making electric cars by 2027 and is retooling its offices in Munich to do this. BMW is also already making plans for the Vision Neue Klasse, which will be a whole new wave of electric cars. On a separate note, Rimac’s electrification project led to the groundbreaking Rimac Nevera electric hypercar. At the very least, the Nevera is a test of new performance boundaries. It takes seven minutes to go around the Nürburgring one time. The focus of this project, which is being done with BMW, is expected to be on performance, either in terms of power or range.
