Christian von Koenigsegg is a madman of an inventory. From developing a cam-less engine that uses electronically controlled pneumatic actuators in lieu of timed valves, to developing the One:1 hypercar, the Swedish chicken entrepreneur-turned-auto-builder never seems to stop crafting up science fiction car stuff. His next creation is a true, pure carbon fiber wheel.
Not “carbon fiber-accented” or some carbon-and-steel amalgamation. Just pure,woven, cured carbon fiber. A wheel that’s capable of handling 280 mph, weighing just 13 pounds. It’s so light it can be tossed in the air and caught with one hand. We know, it’s a little insane. But the wheel works and many Koenigsegg creations are driving the streets with these impossible wheels.
Why A Carbon Fiber Wheel Matters
Although we’re just now getting to peak at these mythical wheels, Koenigsegg casually suggests the company’s been building them for a few years, using some unique fiber.
Koenigsegg explains his inspiration for developing the wheel, and his reasoning follows much of his entrepreneurial vision – breaking through seemingly unbreakable automotive limits by approaching them in new and never-before-tried ways: “[The wheel] is the most important area of the car to have lightweight, because it is rotational unsprung mass. So not only is it bumping up and down, it’s also rotating. When you’re turning, you have centrifugal forces… disturbing your steering feel and things like that.”
How Koenigsegg Did It
Although generally nonspecific and protective of his trade secrets, Koenigsegg explains the wheels are literally crafted by hand, with each layer of carbon fiber strategically placed by a builder. “We only use the most extreme carbon fiber material available, it’s called Prepreg,” he explains. “It’s the same [stuff] that’s been used in Formula 1, fighter jets, space ships, things like that.” He goes on to illustrate the unique fiber is blended with an epoxy resin, lending it a tackiness that allows each strip to be precisely molded before baking and curing. Masking the “proprietary technology” the company uses to actually set the wheel once it’s been formed, Koenigsegg explains a negative mold is used to produce the finished, hollow, 13-pound wheel capable of travelling 280 mph.
The whole process itself seems more art than science. There are no micrometers, no compasses, no spinning whirly jigs telling the designer where to place a strip of carbon fiber. That appears to be Koenigsegg’s approach to building cars: Blending art, handiwork, and immeasurable technology with science.
Ready for The Regera
Turns out, Koenigsegg is well into its next steps of carbon fiber wheel craftsmanship – enter the new, 1700-hp Regera. Touted as a luxury “megacar”, the Regera is all about combining Koenigsegg’s science fiction creations together to shed pounds and push out a nearly mythical power-to-weight ratio. This insane concoction of a car combines electric motors and Koenigsegg’s Direct Drive “gearless” powertrain with a carbon fiber engine. Yes, in addition to the body the powerplant itself, 3D design sketches indicate the motor’s top end will be made of carbon fiber.
Photo courtesy of Koenigsegg
It seems, then, that the Regera simply requires carbon fiber wheels to validate the rest of its impossible engineering. As futuristic and mechanically profound as they seem, these wheels already appear almost mundane in comparison to the mythical machine they’ll be rolling under.
