Koenigsegg Regera: Hybrid Superpower
The Koenigsegg Regera is a two-seater mid-engine megacar with an open body and a hybrid system generating 1,500 hp. It has been produced since 2016. The concept car was presented in 2015. But that version was seriously upgraded prior to entering the market. Admire and tremble! Indeed, in Swedish Regera means ‘to reign’ or ‘to dominate’.
The entire batch comprising 80 cars has already been sold out. Half of the orders were placed immediately in 2016 during the premiere of the production version, and a year later the Swedish company sold out the second half. Although the cars themselves have not even been made yet: the ordered cars will be assembled within four years!
Emotions above all
The 10-minute action movie Time to Reign, filmed by Koenigsegg Automotive AB, tells the story of how the creator of this beautiful and ultra-fast car feels about its creation. The Swedish automaker took a short break from developing its fantastic cars and made a short film starring CEO Christian von Koenigsegg, the company’s employees, and a 1,500 hp Regera hybrid. The megacar is stolen by a gang of villains, and the movie begins with a scene where Christian, who plays himself in the movie, passionately washes the car. And although in real life the head of the Koenigsegg company sells all the cars created by the company, in the movie he refuses to sell the car to the customer, saying that he loved it too much and was not going to sell it. Then everything happens like in a real action movie: armed people, breaking in, pursuit and explosion of a real car. Not the Regera, of course.
Blowing up would be too much, as the Regera is an outstanding car! On September 23, 2019, it set a world record in the ‘Acceleration from 0 to 400 km and deceleration to 0’ category. It took the car 31.49 seconds to complete the test, and measurements were taken at the military airfield of Roda deep in the forests of Sweden. The Megacar was driven by Koenigsegg factory driver Sonny Persson. It should be noted that the broken runway of the abandoned airfield does not have the best coverage for this kind of test. According to Christian and his team, in good conditions, the Regera can go even faster.
Equipment
According to the manufacturer, the Regera’s maximum speed is electronically limited to 404 km/h. The car can accelerate to 100 km/h in 2.8 seconds, to 200 km/h in 6.6 seconds, to 300 km/h in 10.9 seconds. And the Regera is capable of reaching a speed of 400 km/h in 20 seconds.
The car is powered by a 5-liter twin-turbo V8 (1100 hp) engine, supplemented by three electric motors and the proprietary Koenigsegg Direct Drive (KDD) transmission. The KDD is a patented direct drive transmission with a single gear.
Together, all the hybrid motors produce up to 1,500 horsepower and 2,000 Nm of torque, which is more than 1 megawatt, hence the name megacar. It works in the following manner: the central electric motor serves as a starter-generator and propels the car at a speed of less than 50 km/h, whereas another pair of motors located on the axle shafts controls the thrust vector. The main gear is mechanical, with a gear ratio of 2.85. The connection between the internal combustion engine and the transmission is controlled by a hydraulic clutch that changes the degree of slippage, up to complete blocking, which is necessary to crank the petrol engine when reaching high speeds. The unladen weight of the vehicle is 1,590 kg.
In 2019, the Koenigsegg Regera set a world record in the ‘Acceleration from 0 to 400 km and deceleration to 0’ category.
The car is equipped with an 800 V, 525 kW batter with a capacity of 4.5 kW/h. The battery weighs 90 kg. The Regera has a very complex, almost perfect, suspension with active shock absorbers and an additional third shock absorber to compensate for the rear end squatting during acceleration. The car features active supports for the internal combustion engine and transmission. The engine mounts are designed to stay soft at low speeds, significantly reducing vibration and engine noise. The engine mounts become firmer at high speeds.
The exterior of the sports car looks kind of romantic: the daytime running lights resemble a constellation against a dark carbon fiber background, similar to the night sky. In addition, the headlights can drain condensation efficiently using two small fans installed in each lamp.