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Koenigsegg Gemera Production Tour

36:42 recording · AUTO · 2 speakers

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Brief overview

Christian von Koenigsegg builds hypercars in-house, from carbon wheels to e-motors, culminating in the 2,300 horsepower Gemera.

  1. Everything was reinvested for decadesChristian only bought his first Koenigsegg a few years ago, and it was used, because all the money went back into the company.
  2. Make it in-house, even wheels and motorsKoenigsegg winds its own coils, builds its own e-motor and inverter from scratch, and lays 650 carbon pieces into one hollow Air Core wheel over three days.
  3. Hybrid now, electric only when neededThe electrical propulsion department exists, but renewable fuels, light weight and hybrid excitement are the bet until EVs are truly required.
Executive Summary AI
  • Christian von Koenigsegg founded the company in 1994 at the age of 22, having started his first business at 19 trading plastic bags, ballpoint pens and frozen chicken to fund a car, and had a driving prototype two years later.
  • A fire destroyed the first factory two weeks before the Geneva Motor Show, yet the team finished the first CC8S prototype in time and moved into an Air Force hangar once home to Sweden's Ghost Squadron, the source of the motto "the show must go on".
  • The new Gemera has four seats, four-wheel drive and a twin-turbo V8 plus hybrid drive producing 2,300 horsepower, built on a line where roughly 15 test cars precede 300 production cars around a carbon tub rated at 65,000 Newton meters per degree.
  • The free valve three-cylinder that appeared in the original show car was dropped for a five-litre V8, and a development engine pulled about 1,050 horsepower on standard 95 octane with a target of over 1,200.
  • Koenigsegg's own six-phase Raxial flux e-motor makes 800 horsepower and 1,250 newton meters from 39 kilos, and Christian says a full EV is on hold because customers still enjoy the combustion engine, with the Gemera costing around 2.7 million US dollars.
Key Quote
“when I was 19, buying and selling plastic bags, ballpoint pens, frozen chicken, just trying to make some money so that I could build a car.”
— Christian von Koenigsegg
Key Quote
“I told him that I want to be like that bicycle repairman when I grow up, I want to build a car like that.”
— Christian von Koenigsegg
Key Quote
“It's the purest form of carbon fiber we can imagine.”
— Christian von Koenigsegg