Koenigsegg modifications

The Koenigsegg Regera pictured here is the same car that took the 2015 Geneva Motor Show by storm. This is the prototype, and we’re among the first outsiders in the world to get a crack at the hypercar that signals a new chapter in terms of design and technology for the boutique Swedish brand. This car in particular is a fair bit outside industry norms: Most auto show queens can barely eclipse walking speed; this one will reportedly touch 249 mph. The production version aims for 255.

Koenigsegg won’t begin delivering fully baked models of the Regera until September. It plans to build only 80 copies of the 1,500-horsepower, carbon monocoque monster for about $1.89 million a pop, with half of them already spoken for. The Regera is stunning to look at, but when it comes to this car, it’s the drivetrain that’s the star of the show.

As creator Christian von Koenigsegg explains, “Right now, when reversing, the gasoline engine runs in idle; it’s only the electric motors that make the car move.” Specifically, there are three electric motors, one connected to the crankshaft and one to power each rear wheel. The prototype’s steering wheel paddles select the car’s direction of travel. Left is reverse; right is forward. Pull them simultaneously and you get park.

We pull the right paddle and the Regera moves ahead slowly, using electricity and the 5.0-liter, twin-turbo V-8 internal combustion engine together. There is no conventional multiratio transmission. Instead, there is a hydraulic coupling, dubbed HydraCoup, which is part of a patented piece of technology called Koenigsegg Direct Drive transmission or KDD.

“The electric motors, placed after the hydraulic coupling, are major power sources up until [about 30 mph] when the [gasoline engine’s] crankshaft and the rear axle are running at the same speed. The engine [behaves as though it] is in ‘seventh gear’ from the start, speedwise,” Koenigsegg says. With no step-gear transmission in between, the engine links to the rear wheels via a 2.73:1 final drive, with HydraCoup essentially working as a torque converter as it allows for some slip. The engine rumble is muffled and it sounds similar to when it’s idling, but speed increases anyway as we continue forward. The hydraulic coupling is supposed to lock fully at 30 mph under normal acceleration. But Koenigsegg senses something isn’t quite right.

“My team installed new software late last night, and I think it locks the ‘clutch’ a little too late,” he assesses. “And that little twitch you felt at the lock, we intend to remove that completely.” The jerkiness is barely perceptible, but certainly at some points during the run, I come to know when it occurs.

The Regera uses electricity when accelerating quickly, which helps plug gaps in the torque curve; indeed, the electric motors also serve as a substitute for conventional gears. At low speeds, too, the majority of the power comes from electricity, but the setup also takes energy from the combustion engine into the hydraulic coupling for torque conversion. Electric power is available all the way up to about 249 mph, but with diminishing effect above 186 mph.

Koenigsegg urges me to push the throttle harder, and the Regera—Swedish for “to reign” or “to rule”—gallops immediately, in a blaze. Compared with other transmissions, manual or automatic, this one allegedly reduces powertrain losses by about 50 percent. For an already massively powerful, 1,100- horsepower engine like the Regera’s twin-turbo V-8, that means about 50 additional ponies reach the rear wheels instead of disappearing into a gearbox. With additional power from the electric motors, Koenigsegg says the car can generate a combined peak output of 1,500 hp and 1,560 lb-ft, as the individual power curves of the V-8 and electric motors intersect.