Since founding Rimac Automobili in Croatia in 2009, Mate Rimac has been committed to building the next generation of electric supercars. Not yet 30 years old, Mate represents the bright new future of mobility as he continues to redefine propulsion possibilities on both two and four wheels.
Rimac Automobili first made headlines when it created the renowned Concept_One, the world’s first electric hypercar, with more than 1000bhp, which Mate presented during the ‘Battle of the Supercars’ at our flagship event in Vienna in 2015.
In 2013 Mate founded Greyp Bikes, which has since produced high-performance electric motorcycles such as the Greyp G12S, which can reach 90km/h and has a range of 120km. A true founder success story, Mate now employs over 250 people.
Asked why he has chosen to make room for Mobility.Pioneers in his busy schedule, Mate referenced the first of his two visits to our flagship event five years ago. "Since then I’ve used every opportunity I could to join and feel the vibe and measure the pulse of the startup scene. It’s good to get out of your everyday environment, take two steps back and listen to peers – no matter how busy your days are.
"We’re tackling many things at the same time in a country that never had an automotive industry, nor a history of venture capital financing or technology-based startups. We’re trying to develop and manufacture the world’s most exciting and powerful electric sportscars and supply key electrification, hibridisation and connectivity components to the big names of the industry.
"It’s a greater than life challenge with barriers on many fronts. We still have a long way to go but our path so far has proven that it’s possible – even if considered impossible by most people."
Another electrification giant from an unlikely corner of Europe is Kreisel, which began as a family startup based in the Austrian country town of Freistadt, a stone’s throw from the border with the Czech Republic.
Kreisel is known for developing the lightest and most efficient electric battery pack on the market, thanks to its ingenious cooling system. This has featured in high-profile prototypes such as the world’s first electric Hummer H1, as driven by Arnold Schwarzenegger. With this has come rapid growth, with the former garage business now employing over 100 people.
Having perfected its technology and moved into a remarkable new research and development center outside Freistadt, Kreisel’s mobility focus is now on creating prototypes and solutions for bespoke business customers to then produce under licence. But with its battery production capacity set to scale exponentially over the next two years, now Kreisel is also looking to help build the grid and network infrastructure around which future mobility can be built – Walter’s key area of expertise.
Kreisel shares a similar outlook for the very bright future for electrification in mobility.
“Our dream is to be a leader in electrifying the world and bringing down electricity costs. It’s good night oil, good morning electricity,” says Walter, who believes Kreisel’s technology is now in a position to help decentralize grid power and thus lower costs. “The big advantage for electric-driven mobility is that we can share the energy and share that mobility even faster.
“Autonomous cars will drive us, our parents, grandparents, our kids, handicapped people. Kids will drive to kindergarten and football! So we need much more mobility than now. If we share a little bit it will help, but if we don’t run all this on renewables it’s going to be a big problem in big cities.
“Electrification and digitization are the two main goals for the next generation of mobility. Together these represent exponential possibilities for new companies. The possibility of 100% renewable energies is a huge opportunity for them.”
Other key themes for Mobility.Pioneers are Automation, Connectivity, Shared Use and Changing Landscape.
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