Christian von Koenigsegg

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Christian von Koenigsegg
Christian von Koenigsegg.png
Koenigsegg in 2007
Born
Christian Erland Harald von Koenigsegg

(1972-07-02) 2 July 1972 (age 52)
Stockholm, Sweden
Known forFounder and CEO of Koenigsegg Automotive
Height6 ft 1.2 in (1.86 m)
Spouse
Halldóra Tryggvadóttir
(m. 2000)
Children2
Parent(s)Jesko von Koenigsegg (father)
Brita Aasa (mother)
Awards FIA President Innovation Medal

Christian Erland Harald von Koenigsegg (born July 2, 1972) [1] is a Swedish automotive engineer and entrepreneur. He is a descendant of the House and lineage of the Koenigsegg, a noble family from Germany. He is the founder and CEO of the Swedish high-performance automobile manufacturer Koenigsegg Automotive.

Contents

In 1994, Koenigsegg launched the "Koenigsegg project", which eventually became Koenigsegg Automotive. [2] Together with designer David Crafoord, Koenigsegg created a design concept following his original sketches. The first prototype enabled the foundation of Koenigsegg Automotive. [3] Koenigsegg and his wife, Halldóra, are leading the company. [4]

Early life

Christian von Koenigsegg is the son of Jesko von Koenigsegg, CEO of JK Energiteknik, and fashionista Brita Aasa. The von Koenigsegg lineage is attested from CE 1171 and originates in Swabia, in the Holy Roman Empire, where his ancestors were knights (see Königsegg for details). [5] The current logo of Koenigsegg Automotive is based on the Königsegg familial coat of arms. [6]

Konigsegg familial coat of arms Konigsegg Scheibler37ps.jpg
Königsegg familial coat of arms

Koenigsegg grew up in Stockholm, and spent a year in high school in Danderyd before enrolling at Lundsbergs boarding school, and then studied economics at the Scandinavian School of Brussels.[ citation needed ] He showed an interest in cars from an early age, starting at the age of five when he watched the stop-motion film The Pinchcliffe Grand Prix , about a bicycle builder who built a racing car, Il Tempo Gigante  [ nb ]. [7] When he was six years old, he drove a go-kart for the first time, and he vividly recalls this as "one of the best days of his life". [8]

Koenigsegg Automotive

Christian von Koenigsegg founded Koenigsegg Automotive AB in 1994 in hopes of producing a "world-class" sports car. This company was financed initially with money from Christian's previous business ventures. He also received $200,000 from the Swedish technical development board. Christian's father became an early investor and financed the operation for over 3 years. [4] Halldóra von Koenigsegg became involved in 2000 as the COO. [9]

Innovations

Christian von Koenigsegg has developed many innovations and is a named inventor on several patents:

US Patents
Published US Patent Applications
Swedish Patents
Other Innovations

Personal life

Christian von Koenigsegg married Halldóra Tryggvadóttir in 2000, and there are competing stories about where they met. Some sources say that they met during their studies in Brussels, [26] while other sources say they met while in high school. [9] They presently have 2 sons, Sebastian and Samuel. [26] Sebastian von Koenigsegg currently works at Koenigsegg Automotive AB as a Brand & Content Manager. [9] [27] Koenigsegg suffers from alopecia areata universalis, an autoimmune disorder in which the body turns against its own hair follicles. [28]

Honours

Related Research Articles

Koenigsegg Automotive AB is a Swedish manufacturer of high-performance sports cars based in Ängelholm, Skåne County, Sweden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sleeve valve</span> Valve mechanism for piston engines

The sleeve valve is a type of valve mechanism for piston engines, distinct from the usual poppet valve. Sleeve valve engines saw use in a number of pre–World War II luxury cars and in the United States in the Willys-Knight car and light truck. They subsequently fell from use due to advances in poppet-valve technology, including sodium cooling, and the Knight system double sleeve engine's tendency to burn a lot of lubricating oil or to seize due to lack of it. The Scottish Argyll company used its own, much simpler and more efficient, single sleeve system (Burt-McCollum) in its cars, a system which, after extensive development, saw substantial use in British aircraft engines of the 1940s, such as the Napier Sabre, Bristol Hercules, Centaurus, and the promising but never mass-produced Rolls-Royce Crecy, only to be supplanted by the jet engines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camshaft</span> Mechanical component that converts rotational motion to reciprocal motion

A camshaft is a shaft that contains a row of pointed cams in order to convert rotational motion to reciprocating motion. Camshafts are used in piston engines, mechanically controlled ignition systems and early electric motor speed controllers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Koenigsegg CCR</span> Swedish sports car

The Koenigsegg CCR is a mid-engine sports car manufactured by Koenigsegg and the successor to the company's previous offering, the CC8S.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Koenigsegg CC8S</span> Motor vehicle

The Koenigsegg CC8S is a mid-engine sports car produced by the Swedish automobile manufacturer Koenigsegg. It was the company's first production automobile and the first production car to use the company's trademark dihedral synchro-helix actuation doors. At its introduction, it won several awards, including the Guinness World Record for the Most Powerful Production Engine and design awards from both Red Dot in Germany and Utmärkt Svensk Form in Sweden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Variable valve timing</span> Process of altering the timing of a valve lift event

Variable valve timing (VVT) is the process of altering the timing of a valve lift event in an internal combustion engine, and is often used to improve performance, fuel economy or emissions. It is increasingly being used in combination with variable valve lift systems. There are many ways in which this can be achieved, ranging from mechanical devices to electro-hydraulic and camless systems. Increasingly strict emissions regulations are causing many automotive manufacturers to use VVT systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Overhead valve engine</span> Type of piston engine valvetrain design

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Homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) is a form of internal combustion in which well-mixed fuel and oxidizer are compressed to the point of auto-ignition. As in other forms of combustion, this exothermic reaction produces heat that can be transformed into work in a heat engine.

Corliss Orville Burandt is an American engineer who invented a system of variable valve timing in automobile engines. Working through a 1965 Chevrolet Corvair, he designed a system of putting a sensor into the cylinder to optimize the fuel-air mixture during combustion. He claims that the hybrid autos, which are on the market today, use technology from his patents.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Koenigsegg CCX</span> Swedish mid-engine sports car

The Koenigsegg CCX is a mid-engine sports car manufactured by Swedish automotive manufacturer Koenigsegg Automotive AB. The project began with the aim of making a global car, designed and engineered to comply with global safety and environment regulations, particularly to enter the United States car market. To sell cars in the US, many alterations were made to the design of the CCR; the previously used Ford Modular engine was replaced by an in-house developed Koenigsegg engine designed to run on 91 octane fuel, readily available in the United States, and to meet Californian emission standards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Koenigsegg CC</span> Motor vehicle

The Koenigsegg CC is a prototype car made by the Swedish automobile manufacturer Koenigsegg.

Internal combustion engines date back to between the 10th and 13th centuries, when the first rocket engines were invented in China. Following the first commercial steam engine by Thomas Savery in 1698, various efforts were made during the 18th century to develop equivalent internal combustion engines. In 1791, the English inventor John Barber patented a gas turbine. In 1794, Thomas Mead patented a gas engine. Also in 1794, Robert Street patented an internal-combustion engine, which was also the first to use liquid fuel (petroleum) and built an engine around that time. In 1798, John Stevens designed the first American internal combustion engine. In 1807, French engineers Nicéphore and Claude Niépce ran a prototype internal combustion engine, using controlled dust explosions, the Pyréolophore. This engine powered a boat on the river in France. The same year, the Swiss engineer François Isaac de Rivaz built and patented a hydrogen and oxygen-powered internal-combustion engine. Fitted to a crude four-wheeled wagon, François Isaac de Rivaz first drove it 100 metres in 1813, thus making history as the first car-like vehicle known to have been powered by an internal-combustion engine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MultiAir</span> Automobile variable valve timing technology

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Variable valve lift (VVL) is an automotive piston engine technology which varies the height a valve opens in order to improve performance, fuel economy or emissions. There are two main types of VVL: discrete, which employs fixed valve lift amounts, and continuous, which is able to vary the amount of lift. Continuous valve lift systems typically allow for the elimination of the throttle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Koenigsegg Regera</span> Swedish hybrid grand touring sports car

The Koenigsegg Regera is a limited production, plug-in hybrid grand touring sports car manufactured by Swedish automotive manufacturer Koenigsegg. It was unveiled at the March 2015 Geneva Motor Show. The name Regera is a Swedish verb, meaning "to reign" or "to rule". Koenigsegg produced 85 Regeras, most of which were sold upon unveiling.

<i>Apex: The Story of the Hypercar</i> 2016 film

APEX: The Story of the Hypercar is a 2016 American documentary film directed by J.F. Musial and Josh Vietze, produced by Katherina Gaccione. It covers the definition of the automobile term 'hypercar', as well as Koenigsegg CEO and president Christian von Koenigsegg's mission to defeat the world record in the Nürburgring and Spa-Francorchamps in the Koenigsegg One:1.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dihedral synchro-helix actuation doors</span> Type of door with hinge mechanism

The dihedral synchro-helix actuation door system is a type of door with a hinge mechanism which allows the doors to rotate 90° by sweeping outwards and upwards at the hinge. It was designed and developed by Christian von Koenigsegg on behalf of high-performance sports cars manufacturer, Koenigsegg Automotive AB. It was conceived as revolutionary when it made its debut on the CC prototype (1994–2000). The first production car to be fitted with these doors was the Koenigsegg CC8S (2002–2003). The door's primary intention was to open high enough to avoid most curbs, but low enough to avoid garage ceilings. It also minimizes the space taken at the side of the car while opening the door, which makes it easier to open the doors while being parked on tight spaces with another parked car at the side. The Koenigsegg Regera was the first car to be equipped with Autoskin, a feature which allowed this mechanism to be completely motorized by making the door sweep automatically by pressing a button. These doors are found on all Koenigsegg cars which includes:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Koenigsegg TFG</span> Inline-3 engine

The Koenigsegg TFG is an inline-3 engine. The TFG stands for "Tiny Friendly Giant." It is a Freevalve (camless piston engine), thus it does not have a camshaft. Instead it uses electro-hydraulic-pneumatic actuators that allow it to open each valve (both intake and exhaust) independently to maximise performance and minimise fuel consumption depending on driving conditions. The actuators also have the ability to switch the engine between 2- and 4-stroke cycles by controlling the number of power strokes in relation to the number of idle strokes. The patent for this system was bought by Koenigsegg's sister company Cargine Engineering in 2002. The variable displacement system allows fuel economy to be 15%-20% higher than a variable camshaft engine. Cold start emissions are also drastically reduced by 60% over a variable camshaft engine. The engine is equipped with the same turbo for each set of exhaust valves developed by van der lee Turbo Systems, So this is a switchable parallel system where at low exhaust mass flow the boost is created by one turbo and the second turbo being switched by at higher mass flow amounts, thus improving transient response. Without the turbos, Koenigsegg claims the engine is only capable of 300 hp (220 kW). The engine can operate on the Otto cycle, Miller cycle, or the Atkinson cycle. Further advantages of the camless engine is that a throttle body is no longer required because of the precision of the valve timing. According to Koenigsegg CEO Christian von Koenigsegg, when running on Gen 2.0 ethanol, the TFG becomes "at least as CO2-neutral as an EV running on renewable electric sources such as solar or wind." The TFG follows previous Koenigsegg engines in its ability to run on all major fuels, from E100 to standard gas.

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