This year?s Geneva auto show gave us more ludicrously powerful hypercars than we suspect even the world?s flashier billionaires will have appetite for, but none matched the output of the production-spec Regera that sat on the Koenigsegg stand?save the one that sat just yards away, the just-unveiled Bugatti Chiron, with both cars boasting 1500-hp outputs.
Zero to 62 mph is said to be accomplished in 2.8 seconds, against the Chiron’s sub-2.5-second claim, but we suspect that?in a fair fight?the contest would be extremely close, provided it?s not raining. The Bugatti will have the advantage of all-wheel drive, while the Koenigsegg directs of all of its vast output through its rear wheels, but the Regera?s claimed 3500-pound curb weight when fully lubricated and fueled is probably the better part of 1000 pounds lower than the Bugatti’s. The utterly mad powertrain that Koenigsegg told us about last year has made production, with the combination of a 5.0-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 engine that drives directly through a hydraulic coupling and three electric motors?one coupled to the engine and one on each rear wheel?creating that lofty peak system output. In addition, as it’s a plug-in hybrid, it will be able to travel short distances in pure-electric mode. Further performance claims include zero to 124 mph in 6.6 seconds, naught to 186 in 10.9, and zero to 248 in 20 seconds flat.

Only 80 Regeras will be built, so form an orderly line. Even with a rec...