The Secrets Behind The World’s Most Powerful Electric Motor – The Koenigsegg ‘Dark Matter’

Summary

• Electric motors have transformed from being considered weak to powering hypercars like the Nevera, combining ICE power with electric torque.
• The groundbreaking Koenigsegg Dark Matter motor boasts 800 HP, 922 lb-ft of torque, and weighs a mere 86 pounds for unprecedented performance.
• The Gemera plug-in hybrid, with a Dark Matter motor and Hot V8, reaches 2300 HP, a top speed of 248 MPH, making it a game changer in the automotive industry.

Electric vehicle motors have been maligned in the past for their lack of power. The G-Wiz, for example, wasn’t received very well because it was in the same power range as a bicycle. The early EVs of the 2000s like the Nissan Leaf didn’t do anything to dispel this notion either. However, at some point, automakers realized that electric motors had instant high levels of torque, which meant superb speed off the line.

They also realized that their small size compared to internal combustion engines meant that you could reasonably put several of them in a car to increase its power. All of this culminated in Rimac creating its 1,000+ horsepower EV hypercar, the Nevera. It wasn’t just electric vehicle makers getting in on the fun either; Ferrari, McLaren, Porsche and many other automakers combined the might of the ICE with the lightness and torque of electric motors to make wickedly fast hybrid vehicles.

In the intervening years, there’s been a veritable arms race to increase the power of electric motors in order to push more horsepower and a lower 0-60 time out of EVs and hybrids. With horsepower figures of these cars now routinely dashing up to 2,000, we’re in an era of power and speed that once seemed impossible. Koenigsegg is looking to push that even further. Their Dark Matter electric motor is breaking all the rules for electric tech, and it makes the Gemera an absolute monster.

In order to give you the most up-to-date and accurate information possible, the data used to compile this article was sourced from Koenigsegg and MotorTrend.

The Koenigsegg Dark Matter Electric Motor Outputs 800 Horsepower

The Dark Matter is simply the most powerful electric motor ever fitted to a production car. A single electric motor that produces 800 horses. This makes it about three times more powerful than the motor on a Tesla Model S Plaid. An electric motor of this power will give Koenigsegg endless options to make electric and hybrid super and hypercars. Just using a standard one motor per wheel setup would immediately make the most powerful road car ever at 3200 horsepower.

It Also Generates 922 Pound-feet Of Torque

This degree of torque on its own is ridiculous. Let’s put this in perspective. From a single Dark Matter motor you get:

This kind of torque will ensure any Koenigsegg that uses a Dark Matter will come off the line like a rocket. EVs seem to have won the war of quickness over the ICE, and this may be the final shot.

It Weighs Just 86 Pounds!

If the power and torque weren’t enough to make you salivate over this new motor, maybe the weight will. 86 pounds (39 kilos). You can literally go into your local gym and find barbells that weigh more than the most powerful electric motor on Earth. This staggering lightness will just make the Koenigseggs fitted with Dark Matter motors that much quicker and more nimble. After all, the power-to-weight ratio is arguably more important than raw power alone.

The Dark Matter Will Power The New Koenigsegg Gemera

The new production Gemera is even more ridiculous than the one-off we saw a few years ago. The quantum leap in power from the Koenigsegg Quark motor to the Dark Matter has increased power, speed, and everything else.

Engine Specs

(Specs sourced from Koenigsegg)

There’s no use in mincing words, 2300 horses and 2028 torque is the most ever on a production car. The Dark Matter has made this thing a whole new beast.

The Gemera Is A Plug-In Hybrid, Not An EV

As with many of the most powerful cars made in the last ten years, the Gemera uses a hybrid powertrain to get to its lofty heights. Koenigsegg is still devoted to the internal combustion engine. While the original Gemera concept had a very special three-cylinder engine that functioned without camshafts to deliver nearly 600 horsepower, they ultimately decided to go even bigger with the production model.

While they still offer the three-cylinder version (which will likely be ridiculously fuel efficient and civilized for a 200+ MPH car), Koenigsegg also tuned up the Jesko V-8 to put in the Gemera. They call this new creation the Hot V8, and much like the Dark Matter it would be a ridiculous power source on its own. The Hot V-8 outputs 1500 horsepower. Yes, 1,500 horses from a V-8. I’m sure all the engineers who worked in Detroit in the 60s and 70s are smiling at that. They were able to fit this new V-8 thanks to its fancy nine-speed LST (light speed transmission) transmission, which was able to give the needed room for five more cylinders and handle the needs of this massive engine.

It May Be The Quickest And Fastest Four-Seat Car Ever

The wackiness of the Gemera goes beyond its power and into its layout. It is not a hunkered-down two-seater. It is a four-seater, grand tourer. The scissor doors should even make it easy to get in and out of. Based on our research, it also appears to be the fastest car with back seats ever made. It’s not particularly close. The top speed runner-up is the Ferarri FF, which tops out at 208 MPH, about 20-percent off the pace of the Gemera. The quickness is a bit of a trickier one, as the Model S Plaid will also do a ~1.9-second 0-60.

The Technology That Makes All This Possible

A New Style Of Electric Motor “Raxial Thrust”

The Dark Matter is built with incredibly complex technology. “Raxial Thrust” is a new term coined to describe the way the Dark Matter engine works. “Raxial” is a portmanteau of “radial” and “axial”. Typically, electric motors use one or the other. Radial motors have the magnetic coils of the electric motor perpendicular to the axis of its rotation. Axial motors are built with flux parallel to the rotation. Both have advantages and disadvantages.

Radial are typically easier to build and maintain, but axial are smaller and can create more power by weight and volume. Koenigsegg has figured out a way to do both in one motor. Since they do not have to show us the inside of their Dark Matter, we don’t exactly understand how they’ve done this, but clearly, it is effective in generating power and torque. Despite this, the motor does not actually revolve at a very high rate. The website shows a max RPM of 8,500.

Innovative Dielectric-cooled Batteries

Koenigsegg makes use of its own battery packs. It doesn’t build the cells from the ground up, but it creates the system that actually delivers the power to the car. For the Gemera, it has created batteries that have dielectric oil (an insulator that will prevent unwanted electrical reactions) funneled directly into them as a cooling system. Most batteries on EVs now use airflow systems directly attached to the battery to cool them, but Koenigsegg has gone for a liquid approach instead. If it’s effective, it may become a more widespread approach to battery cooling technology.

Overall, the Gemera is an incredibly experimental car, and at its heart is the Dark Matter. The Dark Matter is a true quantum leap in EV motor technology, producing hundreds more horsepower than its closest rival. It’s over half a megawatt in power, which puts it in the range of an electric airplane. It remains to be seen whether Koenigsegg will let other automakers use the Dark Matter to power new and exciting EVs and hybrids, but even if it doesn’t, we’re sure those crazy Swedes will put it to good use all its own. Koenigsegg has always been at the cutting edge of automotive technology, and it has just put another jewel in its crown with this one.