that enginesof the futurecouldbesmallerandmore
powerfulbutalsocleanerandmore fuel-efficient.
It’scurrentlybeing trialled inbuses, bikes, carsand
evenboats.
“Companies likeBoschandValeohaveall tried to
makeFreeValve-typesystems,”hesays. “But they just
couldn’t realiseanactuator thatwassmallenough,
fastenough, andwith lowenergyconsumption, for
areasonableamountofmoney.Theycouldn’tfinda
solution.Ours ticksall theboxes.”
It’seasy toseewhy themajorautomotiveplayers
could feel threatened. “It’saveryold, stale industry
datingback 100years, it’sverycorporate. Inever felt
verywelcome,”saysKoenigsegg. “Despiteour size,
wecanstillmakean impact.”
Reinventing theenginemight sound likean
outlandishambition forasmall teamworkingout
of ahangar inasmall Swedish town.But thena
Swedishhypercaroncesounded likeanoxymoron.
AndasKoenigsegghasamplyproved, it certainly
doesn’tanymore.
koenigsegg.com
Ängelholm isunder twohours’drive fromGothenburg
inaregularcar;Norwegianflies toGothenburg from
13destinations.Bookflights,ahotelandarental car
atnorwegian.com
From top
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Koenigsegg’s sister company
FreeValve isdeveloping this
camshaft-freeengine,which
could revolutioniseproduction
road vehicles; only80examples
of theRegera, picturedwith
itsdihedral synchro-helix
doorsopen, arebeingbuilt
“It’seasytoseewhythemajor
automotiveplayerscouldfeel
threatened”
for thecompany’sengineering, butnowbillionaires
jet intoÄngelholm tosee theircarsbuilt toorder.
Its 103-strong teamstillmakesonlyabout 12-13
carsayear.This is thefirstyear that twodifferent
modelswillbe inproductionat thesame time:
theRegeraand theAgeraRS.The former,name
meaning“to reign”will bebuilt in just 80examples
and ispricedat aroundUS$1.9million (NOK16.2m),
although thebespokecustomisationprocessmeans
theseareall one-offs,withprices tomatch.
TheRegera isa real-lifeTransformer.Usingan
app, youcanopen thedoors, bonnet andboot.A
twin-turbofive-litreV8engine is supplemented
by threeelectricmotors thatnot onlyallow for
torquevectoringand regenerativebrakingbut also
remove theneed for traditional gears.Koenigsegg
calls thisDirectDrive.Evenmoreexclusive is the
newAgera (“toact”)–only25willbemade.The
engineproduces 1,160bhp,more thandouble that
ofPorsche’sbestpetrol-enginedcar.Thanks to its
carbon-fibreshell, itweighs just 1,295kg–about the
sameasaVolkswagenGolf.
Hypercarsareall aboutworld-beatingspeeds, and
lastyearKoenigseggbeat itsownGuinnessWorld
Record foracceleration–set in2011by theAgera
Rat0-300-0kph in21.19seconds–when theOne:1
did thesame inan incredible 17.9seconds.But the
brandhassomethingmoreexciting thanmerespeed
records in theoffing.
Its lateston-sitesistercompany, FreeValve, is
aiming tochange theverymake-upof the internal
combustionengine,whichhasworkedunder
much thesameprinciplessince itscreationaround
150yearsago.Whileengines traditionallyhavea
camshaft tomanage themovementofvalves (which
control air intakeandexhaust), theFreeValve
teamdevelopedasystem thatoperateseachvalve
independentlyusingpneumaticsandhydraulics.
Thisenables thevalves tobe“played likekeyson
apiano,”Koenigseggexplains, allowing forpistons
toworkundermaximumefficiency, andalsowork
in independent configurations.Thiswouldmean
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