Rimac Nevera electric hypercar sets new world record travelling at 276km/h – in reverse

Croatian electric hypercar manufacturer Rimac has set a Guinness World Record for the fastest car travelling in reverse with a speed of 171.34mph (275.75km/h) while driving backwards.

The Rimac Nevera electric hypercar already holds the record for the fastest production electric car travelling forwards; now it has set the record for the fastest car of any propulsion type in the opposite direction.

The test took place on 7 October at a facility in Germany, with Guinness World Records witnessing the event so it can be verified as an official world record. 

The new benchmark is more than 110km/h faster than the previous yardstick, which was 165.08km/h set by Darren Manning in 2001 driving a petrol-powered Caterham Fireblade sports car.  

Rimac’s 22-year-old test driver Goran Drndak set the new record in the Rimac Nevera electric hypercar. 

The Nevera – which also holds a 0-100km/h production-car acceleration record of 1.81 seconds – has only a single gear to move forward, which had the engineering team wondering what the hypercar could do travelling backwards.

“It occurred to us during development that Nevera would probably be the world’s fastest car in reverse, but we kind of laughed it off,” Nevera Chief Program Engineer, Matija Renic, said in a statement. 

“The aerodynamics, cooling and stability hadn’t been engineered for travelling backwards at speed, after all. But then, we started to talk about how fun it would be to give it a shot.

“Our simulations showed that we could achieve well over 150mph [241km/h] but we didn’t have much of an idea how stable it would be – we were entering unchartered territory.”

Mr Drndak explained in a statement that the record-setting drive was less than conventional, but that the vehicle was not difficult to control.

“On the run itself, it definitely took some getting used to. You’re facing straight out backwards watching the scenery flash away from you faster and faster, feeling your neck pulled forwards in almost the same sensation you would normally get under heavy braking."

Rimac has made setting records a tradition, with the fastest reversing title one of more than 20 set by the company in 2023.

That includes taking the outright electric-vehicle lap record at the famous Nurburgring circuit in Germany from Tesla in August.