Koenigsegg Announces Plans to Build ‘CO2 neutral’ Combustion Supercar

Koenigsegg is known for its performance-oriented luxury supercars. Now, the company has chosen to down the eco-friendly route by announcing its plans for a new EV. In an interview to Top Gear, the company’s founder Christian von Koenigsegg said the carmaker would be collaborating with National Electric Vehicle Sweden on the development of a new hybrid supercar that would cost one million euros and would be “completely CO2 neutral.” The new model would feature Koenigsegg’s proprietary camless “freevalve” combustion engine technology along with electric assistance. Thus, it would theoretically be possible to cold-start the vehicle using pure alcohol.

The outcome of the collaborative effort is expected to be a “lightweight, sporty” car that would be not be completely dependent on electric power but would be environmentally responsible. Christian said that he expects chronic shortage of battery cells to occur when many more car makers including Tesla would switch to mass production of electric vehicles. Production of a hybrid model would help Koenigsegg to sidestep the projected shortage of battery cells.

The new model is expected to have the iconic appearance of other Koenigsegg models and would be relatively “affordable” when compared to models like the Agera RS and Regera. It is expected to come off the production line by 2020.

Koenigsegg has yet to prove itself when it comes to mass production at the level it is planning for the new model. The new model might also have plenty of competitors including Tesla’s next-gen Roadster which is poised to be a challenger to leading supercars in terms of speed and performance. Koenigsegg does however have its own innate strengths, especially when it comes to combustion engines. So, the new model is definitely one that will raise a lot of expectations.