Geneva 2009: NLV Quant by Koenigsegg

The cars created by Christian von Koenigsegg are not renowned for being environmentally friendly. The car unveiled by Koenigsegg today in Geneva is in many ways diametrically opposed to the CCX and its variants. Rather than burning fuel to produce prodigious quantities of horsepower, the Quant is designed to run silently on electrons. The Quant that was revealed on the show floor is a styling buck of a four passenger, gull-winged coupe with an electric motor driving each rear wheel. The combined output of the powertrain is expected to be 512 hp and 527 lb-ft of twist.

Koenigsegg has partnered with NLV Solar AG for the energy storage system of this electric coupe. As the name implies NLV's main line of business is solar panels and those have been incorporated into the hood and roof of the Quant. Christian von Koenigsegg and Nunzio La Vecchia of NLV acknowledged that the solar cells will only provide enough power for accessories such as the radio or ventilation and won't be able to do any significant battery charging. That battery system is the big unknown for the Quant. Learn more about that after the jump.

Live Photos Copyright ©2009 Chris Paukert/Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.

La Vecchia explained to AutoblogGreen that the so-called Flow Accumulator Energy Storage (FAES) invented by NLV is a combination of an electro-chemical battery and a redox cell. Koenigsegg claims the accumulator can be fully charged in 15-20 minutes for a range of over 300 miles.

There have been other battery systems that can take fast a charge and we'll withhold judgment for now on whether the FAES can actually achieve this and do it reliably over time. The big issue with such fast charge systems is the source of electricity. Putting that much electricity into any kind of battery/capacitor/whatever takes a lot more voltage and amperage than the typical household outlet - or most any other kind - has available. Without a network of special high power charging stations, the reality is people won't be able to do fast charging anyway.

The makers hope to have a working prototype within a year and start series production in about three years. Koenigsegg wouldn't speculate on price other than to say it will be much less expensive than the CCX variants and in much higher volume.