The Koenigsegg Regera is a feast of numbers – “way over” 1,500 hp and 2,000 Nm, 0-100 km/h in 2.8 seconds, 150-250 km/h in 3.2 seconds and a top speed of 400 km/h, which it reaches in under 20 seconds. Where it does lack numbers is in its transmission. Actually, there’s no transmission at all – no gears, not even a Toyota Prius-style planetary gearset to manage the Regera’s engine and three electric motors.
So how does the hybrid hypercar sweep from 50-350 km/h as simulated in the video above? Well, in place of a regular gearbox the Regera features a hydraulic coupling that connects the 1,100 hp/1,250 Nm 5.0 litre V8 to the rear axle, acting as some form of clutch.
Pulling away from a standstill, the device is fully open, so the engine and crank-mounted electric motor are disconnected from the wheels; the legwork is done entirely through the two rear wheel motors providing direct drive (and torque vectoring). As speeds rise, the hydraulic coupling begins to close, engaging the crank-mounted motor; the engine kicks in at around 48 km/h.
Keep on accelerating and the now fully-closed coupling locks the engine to the 2.85:1-ratio rear axle and works with the electric motors to reach the 400 km/h top speed. It sounds pretty much like a CVT, except the Koenigsegg Direct Drive Transmission (KDD), as it’s called, drops the weight of a traditional gearbox, so the entire system weighs only 88 kg more than an engine mated to a dual-clutch transmission. Cool, huh?
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That’s a ballsy ride if there was ever one. Would be interesting to see what happens if the owner wakes up one day to find the batteries flat…. This is no plug in hybrid.
How to start then?
Perhaps Koenigsegg plans to have the driver drive the car like one would if our clutch master/slave is inoperable.
Not a plug-in? Guess you missed this picture:
http://paultan.org/2015/03/04/koenigsegg-regera-gets-over-1500-hp-and-2000-nm/koenigsegg_regera_06/
Anyway, don’t think for a second that petty considerations such as flat batteries have not been considered in their design and development phase. Koenigsegg pays too much attention to detail for that to happen. Also, the motor attached to the engine’s crankshaft sounds like it can act as a generator if needed, and the engine can spin it up to generate juice with the hydraulic coupling disengaged.
If it has no gearbox with stepped ratios, then how would the acceleration feel like? Hope not rubber band like a CVT. Perhaps like the Tesla Model S’s jaw dropping surge of power?
If you want to feel real gearbox you must use Toyota 4 speeder tech.
they should upgrade it into AWD to accelerate it even faster.
And stay in SC longer
But it’d be so much heavier, which in turn would affect the top speed. Koenigsegg has always been about top speed, so anything that could affect its target is a big no.
if proton can do this we can say goodbye to that lousy punch gearbox!!! Sure can in bolehland!!!