The Volkswagen Group wanted Bugatti’s Chiron successor to be electric. Still, Mate Rimac pushed for a different approach: a clean-sheet design with a naturally aspirated V16 engine at the heart of a hybrid setup. His experience with the Nevera convinced him that demand for ultra-expensive electric hypercars was too limited to justify turning Bugatti’s flagship into a pure EV.
When Rimac took control of Bugatti alongside Porsche in 2021, the VW Group was moving aggressively toward electrification in the wake of the messy and immensely costly Dieselgate. In theory, an electric hypercar would have aligned with that strategy while allowing the French marque to benefit from Rimac’s expertise in high-performance electric powertrains.
