BMW and the company behind the electric hypercar brand Rimac have formed a collaborative partnership, as the two brands forge on to an all-electric future.
The collaboration sees a new factory being built in Zagreb, Croatia, where BMW and Rimac Tehcnology’s engineers will work together on electric vehicle battery systems, software, electric powertrains and more.
If you’ve not heard of Rimac, we don’t blame you, they are a fairly niche electric hypercar brand that focuses solely on bonkers battery-powered cars. Probably the brand's most famous moment was when Richard ‘Hamster’ Hammond took one of its early prototypes to a hillclimb in Switzerland. Rather predictably he crashed, the car left the road and caught fire, only to burn almost continually for a reported five days. Rimac Technology is the white coat and safety glasses side of the business, full of clever boffins with lots of biro pens sticking out of their lab-coat top pockets.
The already available £12,850 BMW CE 04
Fiery TV appearance aside, Rimac, and its sister company Rimac Technology is a fairly big name in the world of electric technology and powertrains, and while BMW is on the cusp of releasing a swathe of new four-wheeled EV models, it could be the case that some of the work done in the factory will be landing in vehicles with a little less rubber on the road.
The BMW Vision 'Next' 100 electric concept motorcycle
BMW already has two electric models in the form of the 2023 CE 04 electric maxi-scooter, and the funky-looking 2024 CE 02. They are likely to not be the final electric models we see from the Bavarian brand, and its wildly futuristic Vision Next 100, while unlikely to appear in the same form as the concept, could shape the next generation of BMW electric motorcycles. Should that happen, some of the tech and hardware found in the bikes could be developed, designed and manufactured in this very factory.
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