CarBrandLogos archive · Koenigsegg · 2016

KoenigseggRegera

A hybrid with no gearbox at all, which is a much harder thing than it sounds.

Photo: Aab254 · CC BY 4.0

The story

A defining chapter in Koenigsegg history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Koenigsegg Regera, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

Every performance car problem eventually comes back to gearing, and the Regera's answer was to have none. Koenigsegg's Direct Drive system connects the 5.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 to the rear axle through a single fixed 2.73:1 ratio with no multi-speed transmission at all. Below roughly 50 km/h the car moves on electricity alone; above it, a hydraulic coupling progressively locks the engine to the wheels, and three electric motors fill the torque gaps that a fixed ratio would otherwise leave. The result is acceleration without interruption, and a drivetrain considerably lighter and simpler than a conventional multi-speed hybrid.

Geneva Motor Show 3307 · Norbert Aepli, Switzerland (User:Noebu) · CC BY 4.0

Design and engineering

The rest of the car followed the same instinct for doing things differently. Autoskin uses hydraulic actuators to open and close every body panel, doors, bonnet and engine cover, at the touch of a button or from the key. The name is the Swedish verb meaning to reign, and the car was positioned as a grand tourer rather than a track weapon, with a more comfortable cabin and softer aerodynamics than the Agera it sat alongside.

Geneva Motor Show 0836 · Norbert Aepli, Switzerland (User:Noebu) · CC BY 4.0

In production

Eighty were built at Angelholm between March 2016 and 2022, the entire run sold before production finished. Direct Drive has not been adopted by anyone else, which is either a comment on its difficulty or on how few manufacturers are willing to discard a gearbox.

Geneva Motor Show 1254 · Norbert Aepli, Switzerland (User:Noebu) · CC BY 4.0

At a glance