Rimac announces hatch-type vehicle that will probably not be sold

Mate Rimac, founder of the Rimac Group, posted a video on social media on Thursday that appeared to preview a new car, specifically a hatchback-like vehicle.

He accompanied the post with a statement that what has been in development at Rimac for the past five years will be unveiled on June 26.

In the video, the silhouettes of the vehicles are juxtaposed with flickering photographs of urban scenes, backed by music that includes the lyrics "through the veins of the city" and "running from dawn to noon." The video also opens with a photograph by famed futurist and visionary Jules Verne.

Rimac is best known for its high-performance electric vehicle technologies, including the electric hypercar Nevera and its predecessor Concept_One, but the vehicle in the teaser is unlikely to be a new hot hatch in the vein of the Rivian R3 and R3X models unveiled earlier in March is unlikely.

The teaser most likely alludes to the Robotaxi, which Rivian previously confirmed would debut in 2024.

Codenamed Project 3 Mobility, plans for this robo-taxi were first announced in 2021. It is being developed with support from Kia Motors, which, along with Hyundai, has a small stake in privately owned Rimac.

Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, where Rimac is headquartered, is expected to be the first city to introduce robot cabs. Rimac had previously hinted at launching the service by 2026; when it announced the project three years ago, Rimac said it was also in talks with 20 cities in Europe and the Middle East to launch the service.

Although difficult to measure, the angle of the vehicle's windshield, if any, may have been inspired by the famous Johnny Cab robot cab depicted in the 1990 hit science fiction film "Total Recall." Like Johnny Cab, it would not surprise me if Rimac provides a voice-assistant avatar with which the occupants of its robot cabs can interact.