The performance benefits of electric powertrains are now well understood. Thanks to near-instantaneous torque delivery and continuous advances in everything from software to motor design, cars like the Tesla Model S Plaid have rewritten the production car hierarchy when it comes to acceleration.

Yet many traditionalists have been slow to come around on electric vehicles, complaining that the driving experience is too clinical and performance is too circumstantial. They say that EVs lack emotion. Well, the Rimac Nevera is about to change all of that.

Rimac may not be a household name today, but over the past decade, the Croatian startup has been hard at work quietly establishing itself as a key player in high-performance EV development. What began in 2010 with a handful of employees in a converted warehouse has expanded into a 1,700-employee operation with a 200,000 m² campus in Kerestinec, Croatia. The site, which is currently under construction, will house the company's research and development centers and production facilities when it opens in 2023. The company's rapid growth has been aided by its various EV development projects for automakers like Porsche, Hyundai, Aston Martin, Pininfarina, and Koenigsegg, leading Rimac to split the company into two distinct entities (Rimac Automobili and Rimac Technology) last year. (Rimac Group also now owns Bugatti, with Porsche.)

Few know hypercars like Rimac

And the Nevera represents a major milestone for the fledging company. As Rimac's first serialized production vehicle, it follows in the footsteps of the Concept One and Concept S, which were effectively prototypes that the automaker built in single-digit quantities in 2013 and 2014. Described as a blank-sheet development effort five years in the making, Rimac knew that the Nevera would have to boast some serious numbers in order to lure potential buyers away from the established players.

And this EV hypercar certainly does. Outfitted with four in-house-developed permanent-magnet motors, it delivers jaw-dropping output figures of 1,914 hp (1.4 MW) and 1,725 lb-ft (2,339 Nm). It's enough to catapult the Nevera to 60 mph from a standstill in 1.85 seconds on its way to a quarter-mile time of 8.58 seconds and top speed of 256 mph, in turn making this the fastest-accelerating production car in the world. To give that level of performance some context, this street-legal EV can outrun a Formula One car by a significant margin.

But as we discovered during a stint behind the wheel in Malibu, California, the Nevera is more than just a set of straight-line performance figures. Rather than being satisfied with a one-trick pony, there's clear evidence that Rimac put a lot of thought into creating an engaging driver's car while also ensuring that the Nevera remained approachable and usable—something its customers would want to drive regularly.

Like most hypercars, the Nevera is underpinned by a race car-like carbon-fiber monocoque. It's a design approach that gives the coupe its familiar proportions while minimizing weight and maximizing strength, but these carbon tubs typically come with some significant drawbacks in usability—it's often difficult to get into and out of the car. To address the issue, the Nevera's dihedral doors have been designed so they incorporate a section of the roof to create a larger opening, which in turn allows you to get into the car from a better angle. "Owners of hypercars generally don't like to do yoga to get into and out of their cars," said Miro Zrncevic, Rimac's chief development driver. “When you open the Nevera's door, you're basically in line with the seat so that you don't have to 'fall' into the car.”