RIMAC GROUP - The intense crash test programme for the global homologation of Rimac Nevera is finally complete after four years, thousands of digital simulations and nine complete vehicles destroyed. In total, Rimac Nevera prototypes were subject to 45 separate physical crash tests, and many more static passive safety tests – all necessary to ensure customers around the world can safely experience Rimac’s next-generation all-electric hypercar on the road.
The final
test, which took place at the end of January, was the demanding side pole test,
conducted at 32km/h and simulating a side impact with a lamppost. With very
little of the car’s body and chassis between the pole and the occupants, and
very little energy absorbed by the pole, it’s one of the most difficult tests a
car can be subjected to. The structure of the Nevera proved to be so effective
at distributing the crash energy that the door on the impact side could still
be opened after the test. This test was the last passive safety US-homologation
test, while European homologation tests were completed in 2021.
Passive safety
for the Nevera has been developed by the in-house team at Rimac, initially
using High-Performance Cluster computers, capable of digitally simulating in
near-perfect detail the effects of a crash test impact on every single
component of the Nevera. Despite a physical crash test impact taking just 80
milliseconds – less than a blink of an eye – to simulate a test takes the
computers 20 hours of processing time. Only once engineers have achieved the
desired results digitally do they make adjustments to the physical cars and
subject them to ‘the wall’.
The
Nevera was designed from the very beginning to be extremely safe, built around
an advanced carbon fibre monocoque extending between the front and rear
suspension attachments. As a result, the Nevera is the stiffest production car
ever created, with a torsional rigidity of 70,000 Nm/degree – a regular
supercar will be around 40,000 Nm/degree. The monocoque also forms part of a
very stiff survival cell that helps to dissipate energy around the occupants in
the case of a crash. The roof of Nevera can resist more than three times the
weight of the car.
Throughout
the crash test program since 2019, Nevera prototypes were subjected to the most
extreme of conditions. During this latest side pole test, the occupant – a
200,000-euro crash test dummy – experienced up to 25G of lateral acceleration,
but have been subjected to 41G during the frontal wall crash test at 56km/h.
The highest impact speed Nevera experienced during the process was in the
US-market rear crash test, completed at 80km/h. Furthermore, the last crash
test resulted in the dummy’s load results being all green with a high margin.
Rimac has
been transparent with the crash test process, publicly sharing everything from
the early materials tests, the prototype developments and these final crash
tests. Members of the media have been actively welcomed throughout the entire
journey of creation for the Nevera, too, offering unrivalled insight into the
development of a transformational all-electric hypercar from the ground up.
Mate
Rimac, Rimac Group founder and CEO, said: “The Nevera was designed to excel in
every area, with each component scrutinised and carefully engineered to deliver
the best possible performance. For four years now we have been applying that
same painstaking attention to detail to the safety of Nevera, with engineers
working tirelessly on thousands of digital simulations and modifications to
prototype vehicles, just to see their work destroyed during the crash testing
process. All of their efforts have been absolutely crucial to the development
of Nevera, and as this latest test concludes the Nevera crash-testing
programme, which brings us close to finally being able to hand over our
next-generation all-electric hypercar to its first owners throughout the
world.”