‘1,700bhp’ and ‘family friendly’ aren’t terms you’d expect to see in the same sentence, are they? Well, thanks to some crazy Swedes, that’s now a thing. This is the Koenigsegg Gemera and it’s like nothing they, or anyone else for that matter, have built before.
1,700bhp is the sort of figure you come to expect from Koenigsegg these days. Whilst that amount of power is incomprehensible to most of us, the torque output dwarfs it – 2,580lb ft of torque. It’ll do 0-62mph in 1.9 seconds thanks to all-wheel drive and reach 250mph in “record matching pace”. Doesn’t sound particularly “family friendly”, does it?
“How are they producing those ridiculous numbers?”, I hear you ask. The answer is a hybrid powertrain consisting of three electric motors and a 2.0-litre combustion engine. 1,100bhp is produced by the three motors – one on each of the rear wheels and a third on the crankshaft. Using the motors alone, the Gemera will reach 187mph and the 800V battery gives it up to 31 miles of electric range. Don’t expect to get 31 miles at 187mph, though…
So with drive to the rear wheels covered by the electric motors, that leaves the combustion engine to drive the front wheels and the way it does that is incredible. The final 600bhp and 443lb ft is produced by a 2.0-litre twin-turbo three-cylinder engine. No, that’s not a typo.
It uses what Koenigsegg have called ‘Freevalve’ technology, which basically means they’ve taken a normal combustion engine, picked up the camshafts and said, “Nah, don’t think we need them”. I’ve got no idea how it works (probably magic), but it gives better control over valve timing and therefore increases power and efficiency.
It gets better. Whilst you can run it on petrol, it’ll also run on ethanol or methanol. Filling the Gemera with methanol, which is CO2-neutral, makes it “at least as CO2-neutral as a pure electric car running on a ‘good’ electric source”. Impressive stuff.
In terms of its design, it’s exactly what you’d expect from them. It looks absolutely amazing. As usual, it’s sleek, futuristic – you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s some sort of spaceship.
The front end is inspired by the CC – not the VW but the original Koenigsegg prototype. The grey paint and yellow accents look fantastic and the doors are enormous. I know all Koenigseggs look incredible but in my opinion, this is up there as one of their best looking cars.
So we’ve covered its mind-boggling power, neck breaking speed and environmentally-conscious powertrain. That just leaves the “family friendly” remark that’s probably left you scratching your heads.
Whilst on the surface the Koenigsegg Gemera resembles your standard two-door, two-seat hypercar, it is in fact a four-seat ‘Mega-GT’. Yep, that’s a thing now, too. Swing open the colossal doors and you’ll find front and rear seats and there’s actually a little bit of leg-room in the back as well.
It’s practicality and usability don’t stop there. It comes with cup holders, wireless phone charging, front and rear infotainment. It even has ISOFIX points in the back and a luggage compartment big enough to store four carry-on bags.
In an ideal world, it’d be as cheap and as common as it is practical and fast, but that’s obviously not the case. Only 300 will be built, each costing the buyer around €1.7 million. That’s lot of money, I know, but it’s a lot of car, too. If I had the money, I’d certainly be placing an order.
What do you think of the Koenigsegg Gemera then? There’s not really anything to dislike about it if you ask me. Let us know what you think in the comments section below or via our Facebook and Twitter pages.
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