On this episode, it's a drivetrain nerd's paradise. Christian Von Koenigsegg talks us through the Direct Drive, gas-electric hybrid system that makes traditional gearing obsolete on the 1,500-hp Koenigsegg Regera.
@@adrianmoetoe thats a difference between grind vs actual vision, genious, experience, family and dedication. Even with telling you how the technology works nobody could really produce what koenigsegg does, it would just be a copy with corners cut. There is a reason why these cars cost what they cost. Its just a vessel for the soul, dedication and brilliance. And yes its pattented, just like the right for deciding on behalf of your children till they are adults ;) When u give your whole life and being to work on something extraordinary u get to decide what to do with it till some point in time. edit. and Christian only did best, brilliant, full of care, love and passion investment, u cant blame a parent for giving it all to their children.
Bugatti is so amazing, but koenigsegg is much more so being a mostly independent company and all, mainly just brains but Bugatti just has the money to work with really.
I have been building Performance type automatics for over 42+ years. The idea here is not really new. The original Buick Dynaflow (early 1950's) and the buick variable pitch torque converters (1965 -1967) had this idea in mind, making the torque converter do pretty much everything. However, he has taken it much further. With the electric motor producing instant torque. Lent to his ideas, that a torque converter when designed "correctly" could do exactly what he wanted. I am very impressed...
Have you seen a converter lil this before? Wonder why? Now you know. (It’s a converter drive just like a Bruno/ quick drive/ Ty-Drive). He’s only done a hybrid type deal with it. But say doesn’t that converter design look familiar?
"they" where probably to expensive. Just think about it, someone needs a torque converter, that takes probably hundreds of hours to design and x-days to cut it out with a mill. That wouldn't be a problem if Koenigsegg ordered 200 converters, but they sell at best 10 cars a year. So, no supplier could be found with anyway near a payable price.
+onethirdofGilgamesh i dont think price was a very big issue, and he already had it designed, not to mention that the amount of cars he sells doesn't raise the price, unless he isn't paying upfront
Each vane has precise ridges & grooves to catch maximum force from hydraulic fluid. Also, welding thin & curved aluminum in tight spaces is very tough.
Well put. I don't get half the theory behind it, but I appreciate a well made machine when I see one. It nice to see all this money actually going somewhere.
The "7th" gear is a bit misleading though. He's implying it's the same as they would have in a geared vehicle where its top gear is effectively a "pass through", however other gearboxes might do that for 5th or 6th, and have a higher or overdrive gear still. And he doesn't state the gearing reduction on the final drive differential - however impressive, all the same!
Finally a owner, designer, worker, and he actually knows how all the parts work instead of a lazy CEO that pretends to know how the cars are built and he cares and not just about the huge paycheck unlike GM ......his car works. Koenigsegg went from nothing to something faster than his cars:) that man is brilliant!
Burning, many great ideas already are in some vault at the Patent office, bought up from some rich guy who wanted to stagnate progress in favor of their crap.
I wish this man made a car that mortals could afford, the man is a genius. I know this technology will trickle down eventually but I hope I live long enough to see it happen.
If it wasn't for the greed of the big three on both continents and the greedy government, these cars would be obtainable by the masses. Government corruption and taxing drives prices way above actual value.
@@danc1197 I dunno about that. The parts they use, the machinery, raw materials, education needed and labour to produce these cars is what drives their price so high
I bet if he hosted a party he would have drinks that got you wasted faster that you ever thought possible, developed in house, because he went to the local distilleries and although they had been fermenting alcoholic beverages for hundreds of years they couldn't wrap their heads around what he was asking for.
My Honda Civic can too... Cause the only way it's hittin' that speed is off the back of a cargo plane or off a very steep cliff... either way it'll spin them wheels as it falls
simplified exlanation...works just like a lock up tc, except it has 2 stators, one has a low low stall speed, the second is a medium stall. 1a. the first or low low stator (like a 200 hp truck) has a lot of gear reduction so it can start moving at around 1500rpm. 1b. the first stator can be turned slowly to engage and (this is what he means by doubling the torque) effectively works like a first gear with 2:1 gear ratio ( so if the motor/engine makes 1000 lb/ft of trq at 1500 rpm, then it multiplies by 2 and gives 2000 lb/ft of torque to the wheels) 2. the second stator only works when the car is in motion, at this speed the second stator begins gear reduction but at a lower value like 1.5:1 (like a drag car launching at 5000 rpm, but launching when already in motion [almost like going from half throttle to full throttle while in gear]) 3. all the gear reduction happens smoothly w/o gear shifts through fluid or hydraulic movement 4a. the lock up mechanism cancels all the functionality of gear reduction essentially canceling out all the cool tech he speaks of and works like a normal car clutch. (essentially a 1:1 or engine shaft attached directly to axle shaft) 4b. At higher speeds the lock up ( or brake as he says in vid) kicks in, its like being in 4th gear with a final drive attached to a tall highway gear 5. the car moves along with 1400+ hp in english...think about it this way: take 2 torque flite 727 torque converters and put all the components in a high tech custom shell. the first torque converter is from a truck and has a low stall (or take off) speed. starts off easy at 1500 rpm. the second is from a drag car, this one wont kick in until its at 5000 rpm, this adds oomph at speed. once all the power multiplication of truck and drag car torque converters has been used up the lock up kicks in and works like a straight shaft directly connecting motor to wheel, therefore bypassing the whole system with a basic clutch. then your going fast as a motherfucker. its basically a fluid transmission with turbines instead of gears. if you get your fanboy head out of your ass and stop saying "OMG KOENIGSEGG, I LOVE HIS BALDNESS!!!!" and listen to what he's saying you'll understand its very simple yet well thought out design. he builds off already existing principles to and design something very cool and unique.
Did you really see a second stator in the video? From what I've read, all torque converters, once there is a difference in rotational speeds between the turbine and the pump will multiply torque through one stator. Simply put the stator creates a longer path for hydraulic fluid flow between turbine and pump because of this difference in speed. Like any simple machine, the longer the 'effort' travels, the the more reaction it has against the 'load'. So he has tuned his vane system for low speed stall, but because the car is so light, and his engine so powerful, no reduction is needed. It's like the direct drive systems in Top Fuel dragsters. They have mechanical clutches that are designed to slip the first second of a Top Fuel run; the clutch then full seats and then they grunt the engine against the final drive for the other three seconds. You can do that when u've got 10,000 horse and enuff torque to spin the earth.
I ask my Grandma years ago. Of all the technology that you seen developed in your life what is the most amazing to you? She did not hesitate and said " the atomatic transmission". I asked her why would it be that? She said it was the first device that did something for you automactically. You did not have to shift gears manually. She said when a member of her community got the first car with automactic transmission everyone wanted to see it.
I don't see why they put the 2 electric engines on the back wheels, this just makes the wheels spin until 160mph. If these motors were on the front wheels the weight would be similar but it would mean a lot more acceleration.
For this Genius, called Christian von Koenigsegg, everything is just simple but noone has ever done it before.This Dude is the Future and Mozart of the Carindustry.
Its like elon musk. They use words like "simple, quite big etc etc" where as the rest of us would use extremely complex, astronomical etc. Their brains just work better than ours haha.
i think it is safe to say that we are looking on another revolution in car industry. The amount of tought and technological advance in those cars is jawdropping.
Its fair to say impressive doesnt even begin to describe how successful he is... hes only been in the car industry for what?, 20 years around and his hyper and supercars alike are essentially like none other... again to believe christian von koenigsegg began his company in his 20s... uhm... i think we have the steven hawking of Car manufacturers here
i hear ya on that. i expected some super sucker suction cup robot arms to spin it around like a balloon so they can work on it. nah. jack stands you minions. "be one with the pavement"
Asks for expert help, no one seems to understand so he does it himself. Keeping in mind this is only one small portion of the car is just insane. This guy is a mad scientist.
Knights2theEnd please m8. he had a team behind him. he knows what he is talking because it was explained in detail so he knows.. a company that makes millions is not drived by 1 person.
Ergh, it's not really himself? Like he said, he has experts in the mechanical aspect of the car to create that thing instead of asking others because no major manufacturer seemed to understand what they were going for. He was basically just a conceptor with probably some inputs and economic stuffs, but he does understand the whole thing. Just that he sucks at explaining it, cus you know, not a native english speaker.
Koenigsegg is fucking badass The way he explained everything makes it all seem so simple and understandable but imagine the engineering, let alone imagination behind all this
It's quite simple, it's just like an american style automatic gearbox which uses an awful device known as a torque converter which is two propellers coupled through liquid. No actual mechanical connection, just sloshing in liquid. It's like a liquid clutch. The car only has one high gear so it's super inefficient at low speeds and it has an electric motor to aid at low speed where an electric motor is the strongest. You can imagine setting a manual gearbox car in 6th gear and clutching it up to speed plus electric motor aid.
Hhhmm, let me think of a terrible but easy way to explain it. (if anyone knows anything about this, roll over in your grave now) It is like spinning a fan with another fan, except you put a box around both the fans and pump the box full of water. So your powered fan spins around, which swirls the water around, which makes the unplugged fan spin except your unplugged fan is connected to a wheel. So when the unplugged fan turns, your wheel tuns. Then add in some fancy clutch like trickery so you can swirl the water without engaging the wheel. (the fancy trickery is just redirecting the water so it cycles back without hitting the other fan...i think) ...and I think he saying that by losing all the other components, you are making up for the inefficiency.
I love what this company brings to the motoring industry, not just for sports cars but for everyday vehicles. I'm still waiting for Freevalve in motorcycles.
Maintenace on those desmodronic engines is horrendous. New cam belt every 5000 km. I would love desmodronics if it wasn't for the maintenace issues, Maybe with new materials like ceramics
The belt life-span has nothing to do with the valvetrain. The only extra maintenance a Desmo requires is the shimming of it's valves, which is relatively easy with practice. Also most of Ducati's belt change intervals are based on old non-reinforced belts. You can safely run modern reinforced belts well over twice the recommended life span. FYI I own two Ducati superbikes (one with a Desmoquattro the other with a Testastretta) that I've daily driven for over 5 years, at one point around ~50 miles a day.
You put into perspective very nicely. I found this video to be both educational and inventive, thank you for the beautiful power plant road monster's too👏 It's gutsy how you reveal the casing and go in such depth especially when there is so much competition to go up against but again thank you for your direct-drive video and I love the brilliance of the whole system.
Look up the 1948 Tucker, he envisioned taking out the big 3 with a direct drive system that had a torque converter on each wheel. His car blew away the big 3 with fuel injection, safety harnesses, pop out windshields, all wheel drive, and a cyclops headlight that rotated when you turned the steering wheel. He was small and they eventually snuffed him out legally but 50 examples of his car were made. Direct drive is not a new idea, just new technology by an already established company which gives the big 3 no chance of doing what they did to the Tucker.
He'll discover this new material, but put it to super modest use like using it to line cup holders in order to perfectly maintain the temperature of the drink as it was placed in.
I really enjoy listening to Christian he has a way of explaining things that an expert or novice or medium guy like myself can understand. I would love to meet him in person he seems like a really down-to-earth person like anyone you can have a drink with at a bar. His engineering is out of this world and truly is a genius
For anyone confused... think of 2 fans facing each other, one is powered by the engine, the other is not powered but connected to your transmission. When the engine fan spins it moves air and the 2nd fan will start to spin too.. basic but true. Hence fluid coupling :)
Ian Thompson Cool ya jets, it was a genuine question - I was just interested. I forgot this is the internet so you assume I'm trying to undermine you. Jeez.
wow, this guy is so cool. willing to show and explain the tech behind his car. I know it takes more than that to understand the gearbox but the fact he's willing to share his knowledge to millions shows how open-minded and confident he is. kudos.
That's right! Koenigsegg does own a Tesla Model S, and he is inspired by it! Although Koenigsegg is trying to grant longer life to the combustion engine with inventions like Freevalve, while Elon is trying to kill the combustion engine altogether! However, Elon has worked with BMW and Toyota on some projects so never lose hope!
To see the passion this man has for what he does the innovation, everything that koenigsegg bring to the table never ceases to intrigue me. The fact also that he's happy to openly share it that is awesome, as a tuner that loves trial and error kind of working these things are awesome to me, granted it may not be new technology but it's still 👍
what an amazing guy at explaining things, i understand 100% how this works, and i dont understand why this is only being invented now, there will be much less ware and tear using that hydraulic system rather than a friction clutch and transmission gears with brass synco sleeves like the traditional car does
Every time I watch a video of this brilliant man speaking I can't help but feel like he's the modern day automotive Einstein! The things this man has accomplished is remarkably unbelievable. If I had that kind of money to spend on a supercar I wouldn't hesitate to buy one of his masterpieces. To me all Koenigsegg's are an absolute work of engineering art on a level above all others. Keep being brilliant Sir. I applaud you!
Einstein was a fake who stole the ideas of real scientists while he worked at the patent office. He didn't originate the theory of relativity, and never actually had any new ideas.
Aspiring Pyramidbuilder, Henry Ford was actually a bit of a fraud as well. It was the Dodge brothers whom made Henry who he was. Without them Henry wouldn’t have amounted to much. Nicholas Tesla, now there’s a genius!
Fog I think Mr. Koenigsegg would gain little from such a collaboration. He may drive a Tesla because it's street legal, while real improvements require rigorous testing before being run in production vehicles. Tesla didn't - because DC motors have been in development for 100 plus years. Oh, and many thanks to you folks who continue to fund Musk enterprises via your tax money (in the form of bunko carbon credit offsets). I'm sure he appreciates gullible taxpayers financing 'his' business.
I praise the entire team over at Koenigsegg, they are all superb and achieve beyond the call of duty. I'll say this once again, if they had to shift their focus to regular motor market, and apply that kind of technology, they would quickly make many car manufacturers redundant. Think about it.
Martin Sibara but incorporating this attention to detail and pioneering engineering to mainstream car manufacturing is completely unrealistic, the cost of manufacturing would make it uneconomical on the large scale production needed for the mainstream market
Martin, this technology never starts at mainstream consumer level as its completely not financially feasible. Standard engines are already redundant compared to hybrid yet we are still using and selling. This technology starts at the highest level, in this case, hyper cars and formula 1 racing cars and gradually filters down. I think with all the investment, they wouldn't have a chance in the mainstream consumer market.
man I see these comments on every Koenigsegg video, their just an aftermarket manufacturer, nothing special going on here, they are here to make money. I don't buy in to any "infinite" power distribution on any design, if there is is a flaw anywhere between 0 and infinity "horsepower" will ABSOLUTELY find a way to DESTROY that torque converter BEFORE you reach 248 mph, just sayin'... horsepower is a hell of a force, torque is a hell of a force, gravity is a hell of a force, and what a torque converter weighs like 40lbs v the overall weigh 4000lbs. Come on, "infinite"?, you would have better luck with jet engines for all four tires (still wouldn't be infinite but...) oh yeah, and I'm not ripping Koeniggsegg a new one I'm sure their torque converters are worth the money, but KUBOTA has had hydraulic drive gear boxes for... ever, and they only go 1 mph.... infinite torque (to weight ratio) though.
it's a fan except instead of pushing air it pushes oil, on the receiving end is a fan facing in the opposite direction so pushing oil into it will cause it to spin. it also has a clutch which means it can squeeze 2 plates together to link the drivetrain and the engine directly just like in a standard car
The unit on the bench is a torque converter, taken to the extreme.(as per his explanation) Basically at lower vehicle speeds, the torque conversion process is used, but this is inefficient, so whenever power isn't needed, like in a cruise situation, the lockup clutch is engaged which increases efficiency but lacks torque conversion. If you are cruising at 100mph, the lockup clutch would be engaged for efficiency, but then if at 100mph you went to WOT(Wide Open Throttle) the lockup clutches would release and the torque multiplication would then be enacted, torque multiplication would resume and the vehicle would accelerate. This is all in conjunction with other electric motors on the car. Each system on its own, wouldn't work well, but all the systems working together are highlighting each systems benefits, while eliminating or reducing the detriments that each system alone would demonstrate.
I am 67 retired Mechanic ( if there is such a thing always fixing something still that my life) Christian Von Koenigsegg since seen your first car i was impressed but watching you vidio clips you are my new hero i love the way you express things like without a load of bull like most Designers and inventors and BULLSHIT engineers keep up the good work and the vidios
It actually is pretty simple, its a torque converter that is just built tougher for the job that can be disengaged by the clutch so the engine is direct drive, it slips in the low end for torque conversion.
CrazyForCooCooPuffs yeah I'm surprised how simple it was actually! I bet in 10 years this will be a common thing in most luxury vehicles, maybe even all vehicles if the cost of all that machining on the torque converter wasn't so high.
Clever use of the torque converter is also what made the Buick Grand National fast. It's not a manual that gets it going like that off the line. So it's not like the big car companies don't know this, it's more like a question of what their reasoning is for not wanting to do something like this.
To summarize, if I understood correctly, it's a torque converter inside another torque converter, with a lock up component. the combustion engine and primary motor is thought of as one drive unit (for easier comprehension), then the hydraulic coupler (torque converter), then driveline (drive shaft), then differential, then half shafts/secondary motors (axles). When the crank spins the outside of the coupler spins because they are connected, the inside doesn't spin (connected to the driveshaft) until there is enough pressure to stall the inside. the coupler is full of fluid, the fins are there to shove fluid from crank side of the coupler to the driveshaft side (remember the outside is what is spinning, until hydraulic stall happens). An example is a closed empty plastic bottle. When you squeeze it, you can crush it somewhat. Now fill the bottle with a fluid like water and try to squeeze it, it's a lot harder to crush. The fins and spinning motion, try to "crush" the fluid, causing a stall, making the non spinning parts (when the car is not in motion) hydraulically connected. I'm assuming the other toque converter element is to reduce load on the 2 parts of the torque converter (an average converter only has 2 parts, that does what I explained above) along with the secondary drive motors and the lockup component, since it doesn't have a transmission. So the coupler could be thought as a variable transmission of sorts. Since it doesn't have a transmission, I'm assuming the main source of drive when in reverse are the motors on the axles.
Mr K is usually one of the best explainers out there but this topic could be tough for even us enthusiasts. This may help www.carthrottle.com/post/engineering-explained-how-the-koenigsegg-regera-hypercar-drives-without-a-gearbox/
Yea I don't fully understand either. Other manufacturers may be interested in having their torque converter act like a CVT as well. No need for gears, no steel belted CVT. It's quite the evolution.
AllAroundMan Look up "how a torque converter works" on RU-vid, there should be an animation in the first few results. This should help clear up any confusion.
So this works exactly the same as a power generating gas turbine or electric power generating jet engine. Its about creating torque from hydrodynamic resistance. So the big bell shaped thing spins and moves the oil to then jet out along the sides. This is very much like a turbo turbine. That oil is now at super high pressure and speed and then gets pushed into the turbine and that is literally what is driving the torque. Effectively a windmill being driven by oil pressure. Now I am not sure about the next bit but I believe that once the main bell's speed has matched the speed of the turbine the hydrocoupler has no effect any more. I think, I am not sure. How the clutch system works is not something he completely explained.
In a nutshell? Because 500hp of the Regera's 1500hp is direct drive electric motors, it never runs through the transmission, which makes any gears below the point those motors can spin the tires redundant. Since 500hp is as much as many muscle cars, it this means it'd need no involvement of the combustion engine whatsoever to burn rubber right up to highway speed, and the 1100hp engine only needs to fill in the power difference needed to continue spinning them afterwards, which means that engine RPM can still be fairly low till around the 100mph mark. To achieve this, you'd need for a much more limited range of gears (only 5,6,7), so rather than carrying the extra weight of the duel clutch transmission found in its other cars, koenigsegg instead chose to get rid of the entire gearbox and just build a bigger torque converter with a low stall, its torque multiplying slip effectively giving the car engine RPM to road speed like your using gears 6&7 in DCT, then adding a supplemental electric motor to the flywheel to provide additional bottom end torque for period when you'd be in 5th on the Agera. They claim thanks to not needing a gearbox, the electric drive system only added 88kg to the car when compared to an equivalent duel clutch transmission fitted version. Interesting note, in normal driving the internal combustion engine doesn't provide power to the wheels below 30mph since the torque converter slip amount required to have it at idle RPM would be higher than can be continuously sustained. Likewise without gears the car cannot use the internal combustion motor to reverse, instead relying only on the electric motors that direct drive the rear wheels. I like the simplicity of the logic, and for track use it does scale to cars with less electric motor power but lower top speeds (the Regera's limitation stemming from its final drive ratio only 2.73:1 to give it its 255mph top speed), however doing so will result in a higher engine RPM when cruising, adversely affecting cabin noise, maintaince times and fuel economy. The low gear reduction mitigates these issues, because if the Regara is at redline (7,800rpm) at its top speed of 255mph, then it's cruising with the converter locked up only around 2000rpm at 65mph. If full throttle is applied at this speed, the converter is unlocked and the Regara will hit its 1,280Nm torque peak at 4,100rpm not long afterwards, probably only around 70-75mph.
Hamish McGregor great summary. for me it did sound like the converter is only unlocked at the takeoff or even only on hard takeoffs and will lock up as soon as soon as the engine hits an rpm/the car hits a speed that allows the engine to spin "freely" and is higher than idle speed. you said if you floor it at 60mph the engine would rev up and reach its peak torque. that would sound like a pretty "normal" torque converter. anyway a brilliant piece of engineering and lots of respect for your knowledge about this system. appreciate it
Nothing but sincere admiratiion for the efforts shown here. Automotive science is advanced by visionaries such as Christian. And his father can be included in the family concern as well. Thanks for the brilliant designs and the straightforward presentations.
What I love about Christian Von Koenigsegg is that he's the one explaining everything. He knows his products and his company. It's not like other companies where you have that specific car's project manager talking. True dedication there.
I was watching a 1930's/40's informational video on hydraulic couplings and I wondered why they don't use that in modern hybrids to address the torque issue. five minutes later I forgot about it until I saw this video. riveting stuff!
As I understand, this thing works like plane engine, but instead of pushing air, to create propulsion - it pushes oil, that turns another turbine, that is connected to drive-train. Because there is no direct mechanical connection between motor and wheels - there is no need for gearbox.
It's like one big gear (in a torque converter form) stuck on 7th gear. but because it would take a lot or torque to move it, an electrical motor is used
theres basically just a fan that shoots liquid at another fan, the first fan gets power from the engine, the second fan gets spun by the liquid being shot at it. Thats how you can have the engine power make the shaft spin and give it power without directly attaching them. Imagine if they directly attached a fast-spinning motor to a not-spinning shaft, it would violently break or jar the car forward.
"Fan" is just a word I was using because it was familiar, more accurate would be turbine. If I blow air from my mouth at a pinwheel I make the pinwheel spin. A spinning pinwheel can also work as a fan and move air like my mouth could, which means one pinwheel spinning can make another pinwheel spin. This is just the basic principle and the real device is made of specially shaped super strong metal turbine blades. A nuclear power plant makes electricity by boiling water and the steam spins a fan (turbine) attached to a generator, so the answer is unlimited as long as you make the blades the right strength/size/shape.
Mr. KOENIGSEGG please make us an affordable sports car. I would love to buy it. With volume you could put your amazing ideas into mass production to lower cost and it would be wonderful.
I hope you both realise, that it's impossible. If Koenigsegg would make an "affordable sports car" it would be just a random shitty-ass piece of wehicle. Just as an Prius or something. Or the best case scenario would be a Lotus Elise alternative which would be pointless.
He can't really make anything affordable for now, that would require tens of billions just into manufacturing development, he doesn't have that kind of money, he has enough financial will to make incredible cars that remain in garaged in the middle-east. But than again if you knew what was needed to even make normal city bound cars, you wouldn't ask.
sandzhs WTF haha, no or they would be an amazing car, like the Tucker, Porsche 911, BMW M3, or the Beetle. Do you not know history of some of the most amazing cars in history? Although the Beetle was due to Hitler but same idea I suppose.
Theres a clutch pack and a very low stall torque converter. Its all calibrated so the car can take off on just the ice. I'm wondering what is actually special about this specific torque converter. TC's in a range of applications can multiply torque anything from ~1.8 to 5 times.
From what I can tell, nothing is special. It is just a very well made torque converter. The direct drive lock up assembly is also seen on most newer high end cars. The two cool things about this are: The Torque converter is robust enough to transfer high amounts of torque with small driveshaft motion, and it is CNC'ed from a single block of aluminum.
