If you’re a Koenigsegg enthusiast and always wanted to share your passion with more than one friend, here’s your solution. The Swedish supercar manufacturer has revealed its new four-seater Gemera today, in a very odd presentation at the brand’s stand at the cancelled Geneva Motor Show.
Koenigsegg calls the Gemera a “Mega-GT”, and it’s hard to disagree with that sentiment. The Gemera packs 1,700hp from a highly unconventional powertrain, propelling it to 60mph in just 1.8 seconds and on to 248mph. That would qualify it as the fastest and quickest four-seat production car ever made.
The Gemera is a petrol-electric hybrid, sporting four engines in total. On the rear axle there’s two, 500hp electric motors, one driving each wheel. A third motor, rated at 400hp, drives the front axle. These can drive the car alone, with an electric-only range of 31 miles (50km) from the 16.6kWh battery pack, or at speeds of up to 186mph.
That leaves the petrol motor, which is a unique camless unit of Koenigsegg’s own design. Koenigsegg calls it the Tiny Friendly Giant, and it’s easy to see why. Despite coming in at just two liters, and only three cylinders, the TFG engine puts out some 600hp. That makes it the most powerful three-cylinder engine ever made — more than doubling what the GR Yaris makes do with.
Instead of using cams to open and close the engine’s valves, the TFG — also referred to as a Freevalve engine — uses pneumatic actuators. This does away with the inefficiencies and limitations of cam-driven valves, and allows the TFG to operate any timing and use any available fuel from regular gasoline to completely renewable alcohol fuels . Koenigsegg says that this makes the Gemera’s emissions at least the equal of a pure EV charged from a ‘good’ electricity source.
The mid-mounted TFG drives the front axle only, either on its own or in combination with the front motor. With all four power units combined, the Gemera has a range of up to 620 miles, but is also capable of a total system output of 1,700hp and 2,581lbft of torque — delivering those astonishing performance figures.
Koenigsegg has kept much of the design behind its traditional supercars, so the Gemera is a two-door coupe sporting those famous helical doors. Access to the rear seats doesn’t seem to be a problem from these press images.
The cabin is hardly spartan either. While McLaren’s new 765LT doesn’t have air conditioning or an audio system (unless ordered), the Gemera has central 13-inch infotainment displays for both front and rear seats and three-zone climate control. You also get on-board internet and WiFi, Apple CarPlay, wireless phone chargers, luxury carbon fiber and memory foam seats, and two cup holders — one heated, one cooled — for each seat.
It’s not a lightweight car by any means, coming in at over 3,950lb, but the Gemera sports all-wheel drive, all-wheel steering, and all-wheel torque vectoring to make it as agile as possible.
Koenigsegg plans to make 300 examples of the Gemera, which would make it the brand’s most popular car. At what price? Well, we don’t currently know, but it’s likely to be in the €1m ($1.1m) range.
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