He's the
name behind the world's first electric supercar, winning international plaudits
for his ingenuity. But for Croatia's 28-year-old Mate Rimac, it all started as
a hobby in his garage.
A keen
techie since high school, Rimac was racing an old BMW (Swiss: BMW.SW - news)
when he blew the engine and decided to turn the car into an electric one
starting with pieces he bought on the Internet.
A decade
later, his firm Rimac Automobili is becoming a global leader in electric
vehicle technology, selling Concept One supercars for 850,000 euros ($923,000)
each and giving a much-needed boost to Croatia's start-up scene.
"We
want to be the best in the world in what we do and we are changing the
world," Rimac told AFP in his factory showroom in the small town of Sveta
Nedelja, near the Croatian capital.
The
confident but modest entrepreneur was named by Politico Europe in December as
one of 28 people across the continent who are "shaping, shaking and
stirring Europe".
But
mastering the complex technology of electric sports cars and winning financing
was no easy task -- especially in a small country of 4.3 million people with no
automotive industry.
Rimac
formed the company in 2009 when he realised there was not much left of the
original vehicle he had transformed in his garage, and the aim was to build an
electric supercar from scratch.
"First
(Other OTC: FSTC - news) we had to create a team, then the know-how by
trial-and-error method to eventually become a company that could make a
product," he said.
Motor show
success
The company
unveiled the Concept One at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show, where nobody
expected a small Croatian firm to showcase an electric car that could reach 100
kilometres (62 miles) per hour in a staggering 2.8 seconds.
Last week
at the Geneva International Motor Show, Rimac introduced the production version
of the car along with a prototype of its "evil twin", the even more
powerful Concept S.
"We
can't really decide which Rimac creation we'd rather have, so we're off to get
lottery tickets with hopes of buying both," said a review on motoring news
site Autoblog.
Many
expected Rimac's success would lead him to move somewhere else, such as Silicon
Valley, Germany or Italy. But instead he has kept the business in Croatia, a
country slowly emerging from six years of recession.
"I
want to do it here... I'm stubborn," he said. "I think it is
possible, I mean we are doing very well."
He plans to
build another factory in Sveta Nedelja, while his employee numbers are set to
double this year to 300. Their average age is 30, and many are young engineers
straight out of university.
They build
most of the supercar parts from scratch on-site -- from the body and chassis to
the power distribution unit and batteries -- sticking to Rimac's philosophy of
creating know-how and jobs instead of outsourcing.
"That's
why we are growing so quickly and becoming experts in different fields,"
said Rimac, who won financing from three international investors in 2014 and is
now in a second round of fundraising.
Two Concept
One prototypes, including the red vehicle unveiled in Frankfurt, were on
display behind Rimac as he spoke to AFP, while nearby engineers worked on three
cars to be delivered to the United States, Germany and Italy within a month.
The firm is
producing a limited quantity of just eight Concept One vehicles for clients who
are both motor fanatics and technology afficionados -- and can afford the hefty
price tag.
'World
going electric'
The
supercar may be Rimac's headline product, but he says it is only a showcase for
the company's technology, from infotainment systems to battery packs, which aim
to reach a far wider audience -- in ordinary cars, planes, ships, bicycles and
wheelchairs.
"We
are helping the world to go electric. Our business is to implement these
technologies and help other industries to go electric," he said.
Spin-off
firm Greyp Bikes, set up in 2013, produces high-performance electric bicycles
that can reach up to 70 kilometres per hour. So far around 80 have been sold
around the world for 8,500 euros each.
Rimac said
the company was not directly affected by Croatia's problematic business
environment, which sees companies burdened by excessive red tape and changeable
fiscal rules.
But he
stressed that a better framework was needed to help the country's young
entrepreneurs, who only succeeded "either by themselves or despite
everything".
"We
are creating our own little island here with positive young people... We are
trying to be one of the sparks in Croatia that will trigger the change that is
necessary," he said.
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