1,088-hp electric Concept One nears production

We haven't heard much about the Rimac Concept One lately, but that could be about to change. The Croatian-born electric supercar is back in the news this week after its parent company landed an $11-million investment.

The Concept One is the brainchild of 26-year-old CEO Mate Rimac, who claims he didn't want to build the best electric car in the world. “We simply wanted to build the best car, period.”

To refresh your memory, the Concept One was introduced at the Frankfurt motor show in 2011 and has popped up a few times since then, at places like Top Marques Monaco. It's powered by four electric motors, one at each wheel, for a total system output of 1,088 hp and a whopping 1,180 lb-ft of torque. Rimac claims the 0-60 mph sprint takes just 2.8 seconds on its way to a top speed of 190 mph, and that the car can go 373 miles on a single charge. We'll take all those numbers with a healthy helping of salt until we get a chance to sample a Concept One ourselves.

Investment capital is coming from Frank Kanayet Yepes, a South American entrepreneur originally from Croatia. He's an enthusiast in his own right: he owns a Ferrari 599XX and is a distributor of Ferraris and Maseratis in Columbia. He made his money in the oil and energy business. Yepes is also an investor in the Formula E championship, starting in September.

Another chunk of money, still pending administrative approval, is coming from Sinocop Resources in Hong Kong. On March 11 the company agreed to buy 10 percent of the company for about $7 million and $2.7 million in stock, according to Tech.eu.

“This finally gives us the capital we need to properly set up production and testing,” Rimac told the Tech website. “We had more interest from other investors, but we didn't want to raise more money at this stage than we really need. Money is coming not only from investors but also from customers. We have six cars in the pipeline now, more than enough to keep us busy for a while.”

Rimac didn't say when the $1-million Concept One will hit the streets, but the fresh capital should put it closer to production than it ever has been before.

By Jake Lingeman