Supercar builder Rimac is launching a battery energy-storage business.
The new business unit, called Rimac Energy, will leverage the company's EV expertise for stationary energy-storage systems, starting with pilots with select customers, according to a company press release. It's a new avenue for Rimac, which previously launched the Concept_One and Nevera electric supercars, and known also controls Bugatti.
With 60 dedicated employees, Rimac Energy has developed a new battery architecture that reduces efficiency losses by up to 50%, while reducing footprint by 40%, according to the company. Rimac also promises "competitive material and installation cost."
Rimac Nevera cold-weather testing in Sweden
Rimac Energy will initially focus on large-scale projects for commercial, industrial, and utility applications, according to the release, "with battery-buffered solutions for fast and mega-watt charging already underway."
The company claims to have multiple discussions going for possible energy-storage projects, including "a pilot with a leading renewable energy company." Production of pilot energy-storage systems is scheduled to start at Rimac's campus near Zagreb, Croatia, before the end of the year, with installation in 2024. Rimac aims to follow that with mass production in 2025, with an eventual manufacturing capacity in the "double-digit" gigawatt-hour range.
Rimac campus
Rimac has had a number of automotive partners over the years, and while it deepened its ties to Porsche, its efforts with Hyundai appear to have dissolved.
Energy storage takes the company on a potentially lucrative path—entire battery plants are sprouting up to keep up with energy storage demands—but one already trodden by other automakers. Renault in 2018 announced plans for one of Europe's largest installations, with at least 60 megawatt-hours of storage capacity. In addition to smaller motors and greater efficiency, Lucid has focused on battery smarts, too, and plans to eventually tap the energy storage market.
That, in the end, may create a potentially overwhelming number of possibilities to navigate on the home front, with battery companies, automakers, charging providers, and perhaps even utilities all seeking to put their name on such products. That's where aggregators such as Hyundai Home might help.
