Swedish supercar maker Koenigsegg has always had a penchant for innovative engineering, and the latest example is the company’s new electric motor. It’s being developed for the Gemera four-seater.
The motor — dubbed the Quark — is teeny tiny. But size isn’t everything, fellas. The little firecracker weighs just 29 kg. You can even see the energy drink can for size in press photos. Even so, it makes 335 hp and 201 kg-ft of torque. Those are definitely not numbers to sneeze at.
But, how do they get so much power from such a small size? Well, according to EV trade publication Charged, the Quark combines both radial and axial-flux constructions. That offers the best balance between power and torque. Koenigsegg claims the Quark has an industry-leading torque-power-weight ratio.
There’s one small catch. Those peak power numbers are only available for 20 seconds, which is common for EV motors. After that, the figures drop to 134 hp and 83 kg-ft of torque. That should do just fine in the Gemera, however. It’ll have three of these electric motors as well as a 600 hp three-cylinder gas engine for good measure.
“The Quark is designed to bolster the low-speed range of the Gemera, where you need it, for brutal acceleration,” Dragos-Mihai Postariu, Koengisegg electric-motor design lead, saud in a statement. “The ICE then focuses on the high-speed range. What this means in terms of performance for the Gemera is a big power surge followed by a continuous record-speed push to 400 km/h without any torque or power losses.”
Koenigsegg being Koenigsegg, you can expect all sorts of otherworldly materials in the construction of the Quark — including aerospace/motorsport-grade steel as well as hollow carbon fibre for the rotor.
The company plans to find more homes than just the Gemera for the Quark. It’s also being designed for aerospace and marine applications.
But you know what is better than one Quark? Two Quarks, and Koenigsegg agrees. Add in their own in-house inverter and a small low-ration planetary gearset and you get the Terrier. This motor makes 670 hp and 368 kg-ft of torque in a 85 kg package. Not bad.
Now just hold on for them to bolt three of these bad boys together.
This article has been updated since it was first published.