Will we see a high-performance electric vehicle (EV) from Hyundai and Kia soon? That could be the case as the Korean auto group recently invested a large sum of money to Rimac, the Croatia-based startup that specializes in building electric-powered hypercars.

Under the new partnership, Hyundai and Kia will each invest EUR 64 million and EUR 16 million respectively for a total amount of EUR 80 million. Together, the companies will be working closely together to develop electric prototypes of Hyundai Motors' N midship sports concept and a high-performance fuel-cell vehicle that Hyundai intends to bring to the market in the future.

“Rimac is an innovative company with outstanding capabilities in high-performance electric vehicles. Its startup roots and abundant experience collaborating with automakers combined with technological prowess makes Rimac the ideal partner for us. We look forward to collaborating with Rimac on our road to Clean Mobility,” said Euisun Chung, Executive Vice Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group.

Hyundai wants to build fast EVs, invests EUR 80M with Rimac image

As for Mate Rimac, founder and CEO of Rimac Automobili, he said that he's impressed with Hyundai's vision for cleaner mobility while also incorporating performance on their future EVs. “We believe this technology partnership will create maximum value for our companies and their customers. We see a strong investor and technology partner in Hyundai Motor Group and believe this collaboration will charge our position as a Tier-1 electrification components supplier to the industry,” added Rimac.

With the partnership formalized between the two companies, we may not have to wait long until we see an electric version of the Hyundai RM16 concept. First revealed in 2016, the concept is based off a previous generation Veloster and is powered by 2.0-liter T-GDI inline-four that cranks out 300 PS with 380 Nm of torque. It has a lightweight spaceframe and carbon fiber body panels which make it lighter and more durable. With Rimac's know-how in making lightning-fast EVs, the electric RM16 might become the fastest production EV to come out of Hyundai.

With the 1,940 PS C_Two serving as Rimac's flagship hypercar, Hyundai and Kia are in good hands in the lucrative EV game