Inside the 1500 HP Koenigsegg Regera

Christian von Koenigsegg is living every gearhead’s childhood dream of owning his own car company. Not only a car company, mind- but a car company that specializes in building the biggest, baddest, most cutting-edge hypercars known to man. That’s what Koenigsegg is, after all. And this sexy beast is Christian’s latest: the Koenigsegg Regera.

Like many of the current crop of million-dollar supercars new Regera is a 1000+ HP hybrid. But it’s not a hybrid in the way you might think.

Koenigsegg Regera Hybrid KDD Drivetrain

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Unlike most hybrid cars, even hybrid supercars, the Koenigsegg Regera’s ethanol-burning 5.0 liter twin-turbo V8 powers the car’s rear wheels directly. There are no gears and there is no conventional transmission. Making up for the loss of a conventional gear set’s torque multiplication, though, are a team of powerful electric motors. All in, the Regera’s electric and ICE power plants generate a massive 1500 HP and more than 1400 lb-ft of torque.

That drive system is being called “the Koenigsegg Direct Drive Transmission”, or KDD. Conceived by Christian von Koenigsegg, the KDD is supposed to be a lighter, more efficient way to power cars. The copmany’s website claims that the KDD “replaces the combustion engine’s traditional transmission and gives the added benefit of pure EV mode. What is unique is that the KDD manages to create direct drive to rear axle from the combustion engine without the need of multitude gears or other traditional types of variable transmissions, with inherently high energy losses.” Then continues, explaining that, “during highway travel, for example, the KDD reduces drivetrain losses, compared to traditional transmission or CVT by over 50%, as there is no step up or step down gear working in series with the final drive – just direct power transmission from the engine to the wheels.”

The seemingly complicated KDD system does add a bit of weight to the Regera. Any hybrid system would, of course- but, even here, the Regera team says the car is ahead of the curve. “The complete KDD system, including the battery, adds a mere 88kg to the Regera´s weight, compared to what the Regera would have weighed with a traditional ICE, coupled to a 7 speed DCT transmission instead of the KDD. Presently no other hybrid Hypercar even comes close to this type of weight ratio for their electrification. This is interesting, as they all have smaller battery capacity and less electric power than the Regera.”

You can find out more about this incredibly advanced cottage-industry supercar in this thirty-minute video, below. It’s produced by Shmee 150 and, more importantly, is co-hosted by Christian von Koenigsegg, himself, as they take this baddest of all hybrids on a wintery tour.

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Source | Images: Shmee 150, Koenigsegg.

1,500 HP Koenigsegg Regera Hybrid Hypercar to Cost $2.34 Million

Boasting both a hybrid and electric drivetrain spinning out some 1,500 horsepower that takes it from 0 to 60 MPH in 2.8 seconds and a top speed of 248 MPH, the Koenigsegg Regera is amongst the most powerful production vehicles ever conceived. Those are some impressive numbers to be sure, and just as impressive is the $2.34 million price tag for one of the 80 examples planned, reports AutoGuide.

Using a twin-turbocharged 5.0 liter V8 and a trifecta of electric motors, the Regera (which in Swedish means “to reign”), Koenigsegg quotes figures of 1,500 horsepower and 1,475 lb-ft of torque. A 9.27 kWh lithium-ion battery pack provided by Rimac Automobili provides up to 22 miles of electric-only driving range, though the motors are more about instant torque than any pretext of environmentalism.

That’s not to say founder Christian von Koenigsegg doesn’t have something of a green tint. He is a loud-and-proud Tesla Model S owner, and it’s not too far out to imagine that he may build an all-electric hypercar bearing the Koenigsegg name, some day. For now though, if you want a hybrid Koenigsegg, you’d better be worth a billion or two.

New Koenigsegg Regera revealed

Swedish supercar maker unveils its new hybrid model, featuring a V8 engine and three electric motors

The first hybrid created by Koenigsegg is powered by the combination of a V8 engine and three electric motors – one on each rear wheel and one on the crankshaft.

The Regera features a softer front-end design than the Agera and comes with large front air intakes, a front diffuser, a wrap-around windscreen and a prominent roof scoop. At the rear, the new model gets an Akrapovic-developed exhaust which exits from a rear diffuser, above which is the Regera’s charging port.

The Regera’s large rear spoiler contributes to a total downforce of 450kg at 155mph. The model sits on carbonfibre wheels – 19in at the front and 20in at the rear – and features ventilated ceramic brake discs at all four corners.

Output from the Regera’s 5.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine is 1085bhp at 7800rpm. However, the added 697bhp coming from the electric motors produces a total system output of 1782bhp and combined torque of 1549lb ft.

Koenigsegg says the Regera is the most powerful production car in existence, with its outputs significantly eclipsing the likes of theMcLaren P1, LaFerrari and Porsche 918 Spyder.

According to the car maker, it will cover 0-250mph in under 20sec, 95-155mph in 3.2sec and 0-62mph in around 2.8sec. It has also revealed that the Regera will run up to 20mph on electric power only.

The key to its performance is its relatively lightweight hybrid set-up. Although the Regera is not referred to as a traditional hybrid, the model does feature a new Koenigsegg Direct Drive (KDD) transmission which, the company says, can reduce energy losses by up to 50% compared with traditional transmissions and CVTs.

Despite the huge power output of the Regera, Andreas Petre, Koenigsegg’s director of sales in Asia, Middle East, Africa and Oceana, said it wouldn’t be difficult to drive on the road: “It has very sophisticated ESP, traction control, active chassis and aerodynamics. It’s like a very fast Tesla with a beautiful sound."

Just 80 examples of the Regera will be made over the next five to six years, and each will cost $1.89 million (around £1.23m) before tax.

The Swedish manufacturer also showed off the Agera RS at Geneva. The latest evolution of the Agera supercar is track-focused and boasts upgraded bodywork, active aerodynamics and more power.

Koenigsegg Regera Hybrid Megacar Coming With 1,300+ Horsepower

In Swedish, Regera means “to reign”, making it an appropriate name for the upcoming Koenigsegg hybrid megacar that could make over 1,300 horsepower. Over half of that total output will come from a pair of electric motors, and if true, it will quite literally rule over every other car on the road.

Koenigsegg has grand ambitions for the Regera, saying it will be the “fastest accelerating, most powerful production car ever.” A 9 kWh liquid-cooled battery pack will power two electric motors churning out around 700 horsepower, as much as the Tesla P85D makes. It will also be lightweight, luxurious, and insanely expensive. And if it is truly a “megacar”, it will have to pack at least 1,340 horsepower, or one megawatt. That 9 kWh battery isn’t likely to provide much of an electric-only driving range, but it seems like it will be able to dump out plenty of power to that pair of electric motors.

Unless I am mistaken (I’m not as current as I should be on boutique Swedish automakers I’m afraid) this will also be Koenigsegg’s first hybrid car. Christian von Koenigsegg, the eccentric founder of the supercar builder, recently spent some time with the Tesla Model S and was impressed. After seeing the success of other high-performance hybrids like the Porsche 918 Spyder and the LaFerrari, it’s become clear that the path forward for uber-performance cars is going to be hybrids. The unbeatable instant torque of electric motors has shown the world a better way forward, and there’s no turning back now.