Koenigsegg customers have made their preferences clear: more power is better. Christian von Koenigsegg, the founder of the Swedish hypercar manufacturer, recently shared with Top Gear Magazine that the company has decided to forgo a three-cylinder engine option for the Gemera. Instead, the hypercar will now feature only a V-8 engine. Despite this shift, Koenigsegg has not entirely abandoned the development of its high-performance three-cylinder engine.
The Gemera’s initial powertrain details were unexpected and intriguing. When Koenigsegg first introduced the “Mega-GT” in 2020, it was set to be powered by a twin-turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-three engine, known as the “Tiny Friendly Giant,” paired with three electric motors. This setup promised a remarkable total output of 1,677 horsepower and 2,581 lb-ft of torque. With this configuration, the Gemera was expected to accelerate from 0 to 62 mph in just 1.9 seconds and reach a top speed of 249 mph.
However, Koenigsegg’s ambitions didn’t stop there. Last year, the company announced a more powerful variant of the Gemera, which would feature a twin-turbocharged 5.0-liter V-8 engine combined with the brand’s “Dark Matter” radial-flux electric motor. This upgraded version would deliver a staggering 2,300 horsepower and 2,038 lb-ft of torque when running on E85 fuel.
While it’s impressive that Koenigsegg aimed to provide an even more powerful option, this decision seems to have overshadowed the initial three-cylinder engine. According to von Koenigsegg, the introduction of the V-8 engine significantly diminished interest in the inline-three variant. On a recent Top Gear Magazine podcast, von Koenigsegg mentioned that the demand for the three-cylinder engine plummeted once the V-8 option was announced. He even managed to persuade the few remaining customers who had requested the three-cylinder model to switch to the more powerful V-8 version.
“In a nutshell, they all turn into V8s,” von Koenigsegg told host Jack Rix, as reported by CarScoops. “There were so few left that asked for the three-cylinder, we managed to convince almost all of them [to switch].”
Despite the shift in focus, Koenigsegg remains committed to the development of the Tiny Friendly Giant engine. The company continues to work on this innovative powertrain and hopes to integrate it into a future vehicle. There is even a chance it could appear in a subsequent version of the Gemera. For now, the V-8-powered Gemera is slated to enter production later this year, with deliveries anticipated to commence in 2025.
