Rimac Group founder Mate Rimac took to social media on Thursday to post a video this apparently teases a new model, specifically a hatchback-style vehicle.
He included a statement in the post that something in development at Rimac over the past five years will be revealed on June 26th.
The video shows the silhouette of the vehicle juxtaposed with flickering photos of urban scenes and background music containing lyrics about “in the veins of the city” and “we ride from dawn to noon”. The video also opens with a photo of the famous futurist and visionary Jules Verne.
Although Rimac is best known for its high-performance electric vehicle technology, including the Nevera electric hypercar and its Concept_One predecessor, it is unlikely that the vehicle in the teaser will be a new hot hatch in the style of Rivian’s R3 and R3X models shown in early March.
Mate Rimac’s Instagram post made on March 21, 2024
The teaser likely alludes to a robotaxi that Rivian has already confirmed will debut in 2024.
Codename Project 3 MobilityPlans for the robotaxi were first announced in 2021. It is being developed with some support from Kia, which owns a small stake in privately owned Rimac along with Hyundai.
The capital of Croatia, Zagreb, where Rimac’s headquarters are located, is expected to be the first city where robotaxis will be launched. Rimac had previously hinted that a service would be ready by 2026. When announcing the project three years ago, Rimac said it was also in talks with 20 additional cities in Europe and the Middle East to launch the service.
Although difficult to judge, the angle of the vehicle’s windshield, if any, appears to be inspired by the famous Johnny Cab robotaxi depicted in the hit 1990 sci-fi film, “Total Recall.” Don’t be surprised if Rimac has a voice assistant avatar that its robotaxi occupants can interact with, just like Johnny Cab.