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Has anyone at Rimac ever thought about what Nevera means in Spanish?

Vaseline

For the past seven months, I’ve been working on a translation project that almost made me forget how hard it is to start a text the right way. Oddly enough, it also gave me ideas for several stories, including this one, precisely because of how rich the world of words is. What a word means in one language often has a completely different meaning in another, in controversial ways. Well, my translation project made me wonder: does anyone at Rimac know Spanish? And if so, have they considered what Nevera means?

Spanish-speaking readers probably already know where I’m going with this, depending on where they live. People who don’t know the language will have to wait a little longer for the explanation. Let me first remind them of a couple of controversial naming examples that had to be changed in a few countries. Honda didn’t sell the Fit in Europe with its original name because of what it might mean in Swedish: fitta is slang for female genitals. In Italian, fitta means intense pain. So the Japanese automaker decided to call that model Jazz in the European market. Another example with gynecological implications is the Hyundai Kona, renamed Kauai in Portugal. In that country, “cona” also refers to female genitals.

It may come as a relief that Nevera doesn’t risk sounding vulgar in Spanish. In fact, a “nevera” is quite useful. The problem is that electric cars generally shy away from the comparison that this name suggests, especially when they are so often accused of being mere appliances. You’ll soon understand why.

In Argentina and Paraguay, a “nevera” is more often called a “heladera”. In Mexico and Chile, the name is “refrigerador”. Oddly enough, Peru prefers the feminine version of the name: “refrigeradora”. Cuba calls it a “frigidaire”, the name of one of its most famous manufacturers (a GM company from 1919 to 1979). In Spain and Colombia, they are called “neveras” or “frigoríficos”. If you haven’t guessed what a “nevera” is, it’s a refrigerator.

Frigidaire, from the days when GM "never"

Photo: Donald Trung/Creative Commons

How come I never heard of this naming controversy before? That’s probably my own fault, because I haven’t followed my Spanish and Colombian fellow car journalists as closely as I should have, but then again, neither have the people I read (and I read more than is humanly desirable). Did someone in Spain and Colombia make fun of this coincidence? Did they write about it and it didn’t cause a stir? I’ll probably find out once this article is out, and I promise I’ll share it with you.

Whatever happened, naming a battery electric vehicle (BEV) as a flagship with a word that so directly links it to a device is exactly what everyone would want. BEV detractor dreamed. Appliances are things that need a plug to work and are usually boring, so you only notice them when they don’t work as they should. That’s not something anyone in their right mind could ever say about Rimac’s machine.

The company’s Nevera offers 1,408 kW (1,888 hp), goes from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 1.82 seconds and was the fastest electric production car in the world until the Aspark Owl SP600 beat its top speed. On June 13, it reached 438.7 km/h (272.6 mph), far better than the 412 km/h (256 mph) that gave the Rimac its title. To be fair, it still holds that title, as the SP600 has not yet entered production.

Rimac Never Thought

Photo: Rimac

Now think about it: why would an electric carmaker name its flagship BEV Nevera if it knew that in Spanish it means refrigerator? Why would it name it after an appliance that would give BEV haters dozens of opportunities to quip? It gives the enemy ammunition. Was it being ironic and teasing the haters? Nevjera, a similar word in Croatian, also means disloyal, which makes things even more confusing. I’d ask Rimac about it, but an official explanation doesn’t change the fact that if you were in Spain or Colombia, you’d call the car Rimac Refrigerator.

Some time after these questions were running through my head, I heard that Rimac was not selling the Nevera at the expected pace. The Nevera was presented in 2022 and was limited to 150 units, but only 50 were sold until May 2024. Mate Rimac gave a number of reasons for this, which I will explore further in another text. The truth is, however, that I found it an astonishing coincidence that a car whose name could be mistaken for “refrigerator” in one of the most widely spoken languages ​​in the world was not very popular.

Considering how quickly high-end hypercars sell before they’re even officially announced, what could possibly have made the Nevera such a flop? Could the fact that it’s powered by a battery pack be the only reason that a car with such impressive figures is only selling a third of what it should? The name might be one of the explanations, especially among Spanish and Colombian billionaires. Who would they impress if they said they had a “nevera”? Most people (at least the one that keeps food cold).

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