BMW Group today announced its partnership with Rimac Technology to develop and produce high-voltage battery technologies. Specific details are scarce, but they will power future BMW Group models arriving in the second half of this decade.
This merger is an important moment for Rimac Technology, which is part of the Rimac group. The company is becoming a “high-volume Tier 1 supplier” for battery electric vehicles, according to BMW.
Mate Rimac said on Facebook that this agreement had “a special meaning, due to the complexity and advancement of the product, the size of the agreement concluded and the trust that BMW places in us, but also for me personally “.
The Croatian electric vehicle mogul got his start in 2008 when he launched his very first project: converting a 1984 E30-generation BMW 3 Series to a fully electric drive. It was this project that got Rimac off the ground, ultimately making him one of the biggest innovators in the electric car industry. In addition to being the big boss of his own company, he also runs Bugatti. It’s not a bad career path.
Rimac has already dedicated a large part of its Croatian campus to the production of BMW batteries. With space limited, the company is already planning a new factory. According to the company’s boss, it could be the largest contract in the country’s history.
Rimac has been around for 15 years and showed its first concept, the Concept One, at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show. This eventually led to a production vehicle called the Nevera, arriving in 2022 from Rimac Automobili, a year after the EV company joined forces with Bugatti to form Bugatti-Rimac. The company is currently developing a V-16 hybrid for the Chiron’s successor.
BMW highlighted Rimac’s expertise in the production of batteries, electric axles and software in its announcement. We don’t know the scope of the partnership, but we won’t have to wait too long to see the results. The pair will release more information “at a later stage.”
