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Christian Von Koenigsegg Drives The Regera For The First Time

If there’s one rockstar-like figure in the automotive realm who can give Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk a run for his money, it’s Christian von Koenigsegg. Founder of Koenigsegg Automotive AB, Mr. Christian has been largely responsible for many of the supercar-maker’s most notable technologies, including the innovative hybrid powertrain in the new Regera.

So it might surprise some, considering Mr. Koenigsegg’s involvement with the Regera’s most definitive attribute, that he had never actually driven the car until this week. Now he has, and according to a Facebook post on Koenigsegg Automotive’s official page, the Swedish self-starter is “very pleased.” The occasion of Mr. Koenigsegg’s first spin in the Regera is even documented in a brief video.

What makes the Koenigsegg Regera so utterly fantastic a machine is a single-speed transmission; the trademark twin-turbo, 5.0-liter Koenigsegg V8 shares a common crankshaft with a 215 HP electric motor, which provides torque-fill wherever the V8’s output is limited in the RPM range. It isn’t being given any incremental drive ratios, after all. Two more 241 HP electric motors drive the rear wheels independently, further adding to the torque provided by the V8/electric-motor duo, and making for a positively bonkers 1,500 HP combined.

That’s beside the powertrain blowing all our minds by taking an entirely different approach to hybrid propulsion.

Koenigsegg Automotive reports that the Regera is still in the “shakedown testing” phase, meaning that it’s being driven hard until something fails or blows up, so that the component at-fault doesn’t make it into customer hands. Indeed, with 1,500 HP and a motor configuration unlike any the world has ever seen, there’s a heck of a lot that could go wrong…

Christian has his first drive of the Regera, still in shakedown testing. Yes, he was pleased. Very.

Posted by Koenigsegg Automotive AB on Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Aaron Birch is an automotive enthusiast and writer/filmmaker from Detroit, MI. As a rule, he only buys cars older than himself.

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