The sustainability entrepreneur and 2016 F1 champion tells Brummell about his love for electric vehicles
Nico Rosberg is not just a Formula 1 world champion. Since his win in 2016, he has become a passionate eco-entrepreneur, helping to advance electric vehicle development and co-founding Greentech Festival, which fosters technologies that contribute to a more sustainable future. As well as investing in the all-electric Formula E racing series, Rosberg is the founder and CEO of Rosberg x Racing, a team competing in the electric rally championship Extreme E, which won the 2021 world title. Brummell caught up with him at the third race of the season, where his team took pole position, to find out about his passion for electric cars.
The Spark Odyssey 21 eSUV in action. Photography: Extreme E
The most fun I’ve had in a car so far is the Extreme E car [the Spark Odyssey 21], because it’s simply a race car. I drove it at the Nürburgring recently. I saw this big machine, and I had never driven an off-road car before, so, as usual, I’m thinking ‘Am I even gonna be able to drive this thing?’ So I get in, and it’s always the same for me, as soon as the visor – well there’s no visor for this one – but as I drive out of the pit lane, I hit the throttle and it feels like I’m home. As if I’ve arrived at home. The brain switches into another mode, and it’s full throttle, full confidence, this is what I’ve been doing all my life. That’s how it felt.
The car is really fun and exciting to drive. It’s not a tank, as it looks, and it’s really agile. You’ve got the handbrake, you do a small flick, and it has big power – 550bhp. It was really enjoyable – I was shouting in the car like, ‘Waaaah!’
The Rimac Nevera. Photography: Rimac
My dream car today is the Rimac Nevera. It is the fastest car the world has ever seen, so I’m very excited about it. Soon, I’ll have the honour of receiving mine, which is one of the first. Mate [Rimac, the company’s founder] is going to be there to deliver it, I hope. It does 0–97 km/h in 1.85 seconds – so it might even make you unconscious! Because Formula 1 is 2.5 seconds. The reason it’s so incredible is that it gives instant torque. It’s four-wheel drive and the traction control is to perfection because it’s digital. And then to 300km/h it’s nine seconds. There is a video where the Rimac is pitched against the fastest Ferrari ever made, which is the SF90 at the moment. It was incredible. They’re going down an airport runway, and the Rimac keeps shooting past the Ferrari and slowing down, then shooting past it again. As a whole experience, the Rimac will be more exciting than a combustion engine because just experiencing that performance that you can only get from an electric car is going to be mind-blowing. And this is going to be the last Rimac before the company becomes Bugatti Rimac.
