The Tiny Friendly Giant because, well, it's tiny but makes giant power. The Friendly part comes from its impact on the planet.
Everyone’s looking for a 400 km/h, 1700 hp family four-door, right? No? Well you should be, and the team of eccentric geniuses at Koenigsegg have just created one. It’s called the Gemera, it has more cupholders than most three-row SUVs and the automaker says that it can be “at least as CO2 neutral as a pure electric car.”
The Swedish oddballs have long built some of the fastest cars in the world. The company calls it unlimited performance, though we’d argue that it’s very limited. By the earth and the driver, not the car. This time they’ve made a four-seater, something entirely different for the brand yet something that definitely fits into its brand image.
It’s a 1700 hp car that’s powered by a 2.0L three-cylinder engine that uses the Koenigsegg freevalve system instead of a conventional camshaft. Yes, most of that power comes from the electric motors, not the internal combustion one, but this tiny triple still makes 600 hp and 442 lb-ft of torque. The rest of the 1700 hp and 2581 lb-ft comes from three electric motors, one in front and two in the back.
Koenigsegg calls the engine the Tiny Friendly Giant because, well, it’s tiny but makes giant power. The Friendly part comes from its impact on the planet. Since the car can run on renewable alcohol fuels, which the automaker says are carbon neutral. It can run on E85 or normal gasoline if the clean fuels aren’t available. The company says it should use 15-20 percent less fuel, but that’s compared with a typical 2.0L four, not a 600 hp monster engine, making it even more impressive. It can deactivate cylinders, it has what must be the most adorable Akrapovi exhaust, and it uses direct drive instead of wasting power through a transmission.
Thanks to the three electric motors and a 15kWh, 800V battery pack, the Gemera offers up to 50 km of all-electric range, still with more than 1,100 hp. The total range of fuel and battery should give the car a 1,000 km range, though not at 400 km/h.
The car is almost entirely made from carbon fibre, but with all those motors and the battery it’ll still be heavy. It has swing-up Koenigsegg doors and the automaker claims an interior as big as any other GT car. With child-seat anchors in the back. Koenigsegg says “the focus of the Gemera is taking on long-range public roads “family trips, in comfort, style and safety.” Proof comes in the form of the eight cupholders, four cooled and four heated, making sure everyone has the right beverage at the right temperature. No word on how the cupholders will fare at full trot from the loud pedal. It also has adaptive cruise, lane assist, and Koenigsegg says it gets Level 2 autonomous driver aids.
It’s a car that answers the question “are we there yet?” Because with just a flex of your right foot, you will be there. No matter where “there” is. And if you’re not, your passengers probably won’t be saying much for a while anyway.
Keyword: Koenigsegg Builds 400 km/h, Three-Cylinder Family Car