2021 Koenigsegg Regera on 2040-cars

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Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut gets its first prototype

If there is a Koenigsegg that will break through the 300-mph barrier, this is it. If there is a Koenigsegg that will be the fastest car the Swedish automaker builds, this is also it. Not long after watching the bewinged Jesko Attack dash through the snow, Koenigsegg has shown that car's brother, the wingless and ultimately refined Absolut. Created to go as fast as possible, company boss Christian von Koenigsegg said: "We spent thousands of hours in CFD calculations. We’ve streamlined this car from not just an aerodynamic and design perspective, but also from a high-speed stability perspective. As a result, the Jesko Absolut has a phenomenally low drag of only 0.278 Cd." The development model is done up in Graphite Grey with Tang Orange stripes. Remind us to ask Christian one day if that color really refers to the chemical concoction relentlessly advertised to kids decades ago as the favorite beverage of astronauts.  To be fair to aerodynamicists around the world, we should clarify that it's a "phenomenally" low drag figure on a relative scale. After all, cars looking to stretch gallons or kWhs of fuel do better; the Lucid Air claims a drag coefficient of 0.21 Cd, the current Mercedes-Benz S-Class a 0.24. But compared to other hypercars, the Koenigsegg is well ahead. Hennessey says its Venom F5 comes in with a drag coefficient of 0.39, the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ in Top Speed mode is 0.33 — 0.02 better than the standard Chiron — and SSC cites a figure of 0.279 for the Tuatara. If these numbers are accurate, Koenigsegg has claimed the hypercar aero crown from SSC by 0.001. Probably just a coincidence. The Absolut's internals almost entirely mimic those of the Attack, with a 5.0-liter twin-turbo V8 producing 1,600 hp and 1,107 lb-ft. Weight savings from changes like the lack of that rear wing mean the Absolut weighs 3,064 pounds compared to the Attack's 3,131 pounds. Koenigsegg hasn't given a timeline for when customer units will be ready, but it shouldn't be long. The Attack is expected to start reaching customers this quarter. Related Video: Featured Gallery Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut Prototype Koenigsegg Coupe Luxury Special and Limited Editions Performance Supercars

Koenigsegg Quark e-motor puts maxi power in a mini package

It seems that what Koenigsegg enjoys just as much as making internal-combustion-powered teleportation devices shaped like cars is creating neat new tech to go in those cars. The new hotness from the minds in Angelholm, Sweden is the Quark electric motor, David silicon carbide inverter, and Terrier EV drive unit. Engineering teams have developed the Quark e-motor for the Gemera sedan, the four-door hypercar, fitting three of them to supplement the three-cylinder, 600-horsepower internal combustion engine. The two major topologies, or designs, for electric motors are axial flux, which emphasizes power density, and radial flux, which emphasizes torque density. The Quark combines both topologies into a form Koenigsegg calls "Raxial flux," fashioned with cost-no-object materials like aerospace-grade steel and a carbon fiber rotor. The result is a 63-pound e-motor about the height of two energy drink cans that produces a steady 134 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque. When prodded, maximum output leaps to 335 hp and 441 lb-ft for 20 seconds. The engineering lead said the three e-motors in the Gemera are "to bolster the low-speed" performance "where you need it, for brutal acceleration," after which the ICE will take charge for the run to 400 kilometers per hour (248 mph).  We will undoubtedly be seeing more of this kind of innovation, and in fact, we've already seen it. Two years ago, we interviewed the principals at the Texas-based company Linear Labs, who had created the Hunstable Electric Turbine. The HET is an e-motor that sandwiches a radial e-motor design between two axial e-motor ends. Creators Fred and Brad Hunstable had said that "[for] the same size, same weight, same volume, and the same amount of input energy into the [HET], we will always produce – at a minimum, sometimes more, but at a minimum – two to three times the torque output of any electric motor in the world, and it does this at high efficiency throughout the torque and speed range." Even better, for EV applications, the Hunstables said their motor could operate as a direct-drive unit, eliminating the need for a gearbox. Koenigsegg hasn't gone that far, yet. Before the Quark, the Swedes developed a six-phase silicon-carbide inverter they call David. When two Quarks meet one David and a planetary gearset, they add up to one Terrier, an EV drive unit with all the torque vectoring every electrified hypercar needs.

Koenigsegg pinpoints source of fire that flambeed a $3M Jesko Attack

The 70 or so road trippers who signed up for this year's 6to6 European tour were looking forward to taking off from Athens, Greece, then crossing eight countries and two mountain ranges on their way to Monaco. One entrant didn't make it out of Athens on the first day: Not long after leaving the hotel, a $3 million Koenigsegg Jesko Attack Nur Edition in raw carbon fiber with 24-karat gold accents caught fire while cruising through the city at low speed, turning into a bonfire that left little more than a pile of carbon shards melted to an engine. The Swedish carmaker had only delivered around 30 of the planned 125 Jeskos at the time. The Swedish mothership dispatched an engineer to bring the remains back to Sweden for an autopsy. In a post on Instagram, CEO Christian von Koenigsegg explained that the source of the fire was a leak in the car's pressurized hydraulic line.            View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by KOENIGSEGG (@koenigsegg) He said the systems containing other flammable liquids were intact, those being the engine and gearbox oil systems, and fuel tank. "However," he wrote, "there was a streak of hydraulic fluid behind the car on the road. Given this we have investigated the pressurized hydraulic system, which is the only system that contains this fluid." Sure enough, that was the culprit, the hose found to be "compromised at the rear of the car."  The company's checking the hydraulic system on every car that's been produced as well as those that have been delivered. It's also working on a software update that monitors hydraulic pressure and, in case of a leak, can shut the system down in less than a second. Based on the post date, that software should be on its way to cars or very close. Once the cars have been updated, Koenigsegg says they'll be safe to drive again. As for the two people in the car in Athens, they made it out unharmed. At the end of his post, Christian added, "We are also incredibly grateful to the owner of the car in Greece for giving us his continued support and that we will be able to supply him with a new car so he can continue his Koenigsegg journey." Here's a company whose customer service is almost as quick and comprehensive as its record-breaking cars. Oh, and cue the Facebook Marketplace profiteers: Autoblog Greece (no relation) reported someone put bits of raw carbon fiber up for sale, claiming without proof they'd come from the Jesko. Which makes total sense.