Electric-car maker and EV supplier Rimac is developing a battery module platform based around 46 mm (1.8 inch) diameter cylindrical cells.
The switch to 46 mm cylindrical cells mirrors that of Tesla, which has said it wants to move to larger 4680 cells, which are 46 mm in diameter and 80 mm tall. The advantage of the larger size is to increase energy density, Tesla has said.
Rimac is aiming to ramp up its target of supplying 40,000 battery packs in 2023 and 200,000 by 2028, said Wasim Sarwar Dilov, Rimac Technology’s head of research and advanced engineering.
The Croatian company is currently talking to three battery manufacturers to supply cells for the new pack module, Dilov told Automotive News Europe on the sidelines of the recent MOVE 22 mobility event in London.
“The new module platform forms the basis of most of our future programs,” Dilov said.
Rimac Group has “huge ambitions” for its newly created stand-alone components arm, the company’s founder and CEO, Mate Rimac, told Automotive News Europe in January.
Rimac has 12 projects with different automakers currently in progress, the company says. Rimac is 24 percent owned by Porsche and 12 percent by Hyundai Motor, but the company has contracts to supply automakers outside its stakeholders.
“Most of our products are not for investors,” Dilov said, without being specific.
Rimac has disclosed agreements to supply battery packs to Aston Martin for the Valkyrie hybrid hypercar as well as to Swedish supercar maker Koenigsegg.
Packs are shipped direct to car assembly lines as with traditional Tier 1 suppliers.
Rimac denied an Automotive News Europe report in May that said Hyundai was dialing back its relationship with Rimac following the completion of work on an upcoming Hyundai electric sports car after Rimac’s relationship with Porsche deepened.