Why an EV Genius Is Building a V-16-Powered Hypercar at Bugatti
Mate Rimac built his name creating electric supercars like the Nevera. For Bugatti, though, an EV would be too "mainstream."
When Mate Rimac was appointed CEO of the newly-formed Bugatti Rimac in Novermber 2021, the move was seen as paving the way for an electric-powered successor to the Chiron, the 273-mph all-wheel drive hypercar powered by an 8.0-liter, quad-turbo W-16 internal combustion engine that in its most extreme iteration develops 1578 horsepower. Mate Rimac was, after all, the creator of the world’s fastest electric car, the 1,914-hp Rimac Nevera EV. But, as he confirmed in an interview at the 2024 Financial Times Future of the Car Summit in London, the Chiron replacement won’t be an electric car.
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Instead, the first Bugatti developed under his leadership will have an advanced hybrid powertrain anchored around an all-new, naturally aspirated V-16 internal combustion engine.
Everyone expected your first Bugatti to be an EV. What’s changed?
“Before I came to Bugatti, the business plan was to make an electric coupe SUV type of thing. That would be the easiest thing for us because we had the Nevera, and you could very easily and very convincingly make a Bugatti out of it. But I thought that would be wrong for the brand. I wanted to develop a new car. Luckily, I won that argument, which was three years ago, when electrification was still all the rage. It isn't anymore.”
Is that why you still haven’t sold all your Neveras?
“When we started to develop the Nevera in 2016, EVs were cool. But we noticed, as electrification is becoming mainstream, people at the top end of the sector want to differentiate themselves. It's like watches. An Apple watch can do everything better than a mechanical watch, and do more. But nobody will pay $200,000 for an Apple watch. People want mechanical craftsmanship.
“We do have a market for the Nevera. We have already delivered 140 cars out of a total planned volume of 150. But it is much harder to sell than a Bugatti. If we did the new Bugatti as an electric vehicle, we would sell more of them because of the brand, but nowhere near as many as we will sell with the [new] V-16.”
How different was it developing an internal combustion engine vehicle?
“There were some components I didn’t even know existed! The new Bugatti is not an electric car, but it’s not a combustion car, either. It's like in Formula 1: It has a hybrid power unit in which the combustion engine and electric motor work together. But I wanted the combustion engine to be as emotional as possible.
"You could achieve the power figures that we have in the V-16 with a very highly turbocharged V-8, but the combustion engine had to be special. A Bugatti powertrain can't be something other people have.”
Does the new car share any components with the Chiron?
“We are currently building the Bolide, which is the race car, and the Mistral, which is the open top car based on the W-16 platform. The successor to the Chiron is completely new; there’s not one piece from the Chiron or the Nevera.
“The exterior design is an evolution of the Chiron, but the interior and the technical elements are going up a level. To continue the watchmaking analogy: Even with watches that don’t have a transparent back, you know everything is beautiful inside because it's done with precision and good quality, even if you don't see it. And that's what I wanted to do with the new Bugatti. Everything we do, every little piece, even if you don't see it, is being done to the absolute highest level.”
I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t fascinated by cars. My father was a mechanic, and some of my earliest memories are of handing him wrenches as he worked to turn a succession of down-at-heel secondhand cars into reliable family transportation. Later, when I was about 12, I’d be allowed to back the Valiant station wagon out onto the street and drive it around to the front of the house to wash it. We had the cleanest Valiant in the world.
I got my driver’s license exactly three months after my 16th birthday in a Series II Land Rover, ex-Australian Army with no synchro on first or second and about a million miles on the clock. “Pass your test in that,” said Dad, “and you’ll be able to drive anything.” He was right. Nearly four decades later I’ve driven everything from a Bugatti Veyron to a Volvo 18-wheeler, on roads and tracks all over the world. Very few people get the opportunity to parlay their passion into a career. I’m one of those fortunate few.
I started editing my local car club magazine, partly because no-one else would do it, and partly because I’d sold my rally car to get the deposit for my first house, and wanted to stay involved in the sport. Then one day someone handed me a free local sports paper and said they might want car stuff in it. I rang the editor and to my surprise she said yes. There was no pay, but I did get press passes, which meant I got into the races for free. And meet real automotive journalists in the pressroom. And watch and learn.
It’s been a helluva ride ever since. I’ve written about everything from Formula 1 to Sprint Car racing; from new cars and trucks to wild street machines and multi-million dollar classics; from global industry trends to secondhand car dealers. I’ve done automotive TV shows and radio shows, and helped create automotive websites, iMags and mobile apps. I’ve been the editor-in-chief of leading automotive media brands in Australia, Great Britain, and the United States. And I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. The longer I’m in this business the more astonished I am these fiendishly complicated devices we call automobiles get made at all, and how accomplished they have become at doing what they’re designed to do. I believe all new cars should be great, and I’m disappointed when they’re not. Over the years I’ve come to realize cars are the result of a complex interaction of people, politics and process, which is why they’re all different. And why they continue to fascinate me.Read More
