Koenigsegg Gemera's Dark Matter Electric Motor Breaks All the Rules

Innovative Swedish boutique carmaker Koenigsegg has revealed a new 6-phase electric motor for its four-seat Gemera supercar that establishes new benchmarks for power density. The Dark Matter motor employs the same “Raxial Flux” configuration introduced last year in the company’s Quark electric motors, combining features of both radial flux and axial flux functions into a single motor.

Normally, radial flux e-motors are better for delivering power and axial-flux e-motors provide torque. The Raxial Flux design promises to deliver the benefits of both in a single motor. The Dark Matter includes Koenigsegg’s Raxial Flux design in a new motor that is a 6-phase alternating current configuration rather than the usual 3-phase system.

Conventional 3-phase induction motors stagger the sine waves of three separate AC current supplies at 120-degree intervals to create mostly continuous power delivery. Dark Matter’s 6-phase system shortens the sine wave intervals to just 60 degrees, largely filling the valleys between the peaks of the 3-phase motor’s power supply.

Koenigsegg initially planned to install a trio of the Quark 3-phase motors in the Gemera, but has pivoted to using a single Dark Matter 6-phase motor. The motor delivers 800 horsepower and 922 lb.-ft. (1,250 Newton-meters) of torque from a device that weighs a paltry 86 lbs. (39 kg) and measures only 383.3 mm x 381.5 mm x 135.5 mm (15.0 in. x 15.0 in. x 5.3 in.).

E-Motor Development Lead András Székely explained at the launch of the Quark motor how Koenigsegg has minimized the weight of its electric motors, saying “We constructed the shaft within the Quark out of 300M steel used in motorsports and aerospace.”

That 300M steel is frequently used in applications such as aircraft landing gears, flap tracks, and airframe parts, according to supplier Tech Steel and Materials. It is a low-alloy, vacuum-melted steel with silicon, vanadium, carbon, and molybdenum, the site explains.

The Dark Matter motor also uses direct cooling as a weight-saving measure, continued Székely. “Direct cooling was chosen for its higher cooling efficiency and compact design. Even the rotor uses the renowned Koenigsegg Aircore hollow carbon fiber technology. We not only overcame the challenge of the Gemera’s powertrain requirements but also exceeded goals of making it lighter and smaller than any electric motors in this class.” 

When combined with the optional 1,500-horsepower twin-turbocharged “hot vee” V8 engine, the Gemera will pack an eye-popping 2,300 total horsepower and 2,029 lb.-ft. (2,750 Nm) of torque. "The Gemera HV8 is not only the most powerful and extreme production car on planet Earth, with an astonishing 1.11 hp per kg, but it is also the most practical and user-friendly sports car ever created,” boasted company CEO and founder Christian von Koenigsegg.