Rimac Group CEO Mate Rimac is a Croatian tech geek, engineer, and designer with a crazy level of insight into how cars are built because he’s in charge of building some of the fastest machines in the world. Just over a decade ago Rimac was wrenching on his home-built electric-converted BMW E30 and now he’s in charge of Bugatti and Rimac, two sides of the hypercar coin. Obviously Rimac is inextricably tied to advanced electric propulsion, and Bugatti wouldn’t be what it is without massive gas-guzzling engines.
The 36-year-old took to Instagram to help explain the difference how the two different propulsion technologies manage heat, using the Rimac Nevera and Bugatti Tourbillon as examples. It’s a fascinating video and you should watch it if you’re interested.
Maybe you didn’t know that electric vehicles can build some heat from the process of shuffling electrons, but certainly nothing hot enough to burn your skin. Gasoline engines, however, get really damn hot. The difference between managing heat in an EV and managing heat in a hybrid hypercar is night and day. It goes without saying that Rimac is a smart dude, but wrapping his head around the heat management needed for 1,800 horsepower worth of 8.3-liter V16 and hybrid motor took some doing.
Rimac, in the video, is in the middle of a 300-ish-mile road trip with his all-electric Nevera, and the temperatures showing on the sensors don’t exceed 111 degrees Fahrenheit inside the hottest part of the rear electric drive motor. Nothing exposed to the elements is going to be hotter than, say 90 degrees. In a high-performance combustion car like the upcoming Bugatti Tourbillon, however, the exhaust headers can run 900 degrees, as normal exhaust gas temperatures can exceed 1500 degrees. Obviously it can be much more difficult to find places for things like bodywork, wiring, and hoses to go when you have to design around an extremely hot three-foot-long V16.
It’s pretty cool to see a car company CEO interacting with social media in a sane and informative way. Mate Rimac even goes to the trouble of explaining things in more depth in the comments sections of his Instagram and Facebook posts. Interesting!