Zenvo is working on a ‘junior hypercar’ with a screaming, naturally-aspirated V10

A couple of weeks ago, Zenvo continued the development of its new quad-turbo V12-engined hypercar – the Aurora – with plenty of prototype runs up the hill at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. It was the first time the car had moved under its own steam in public, but chairman Jens Sverdrup clearly isn’t resting on his laurels.

“It is a modular engine,” Sverdrup told TG about the new powerplant in the Aurora, which was developed in conjunction with Mahle Powertrain. “We’re already working on a V10 version for our junior hypercar.”

Wait, what? This is very exciting news. The V12 in the Aurora will make 1,250bhp on its own, but Zenvo will pair that with a hybrid system for a bonkers total of 1,850bhp. Good grief. So, what would a junior version look like?

“If we can, we would like to make it a screaming, naturally aspirated engine,” said Svedrup.

“It doesn’t have to be a hybrid. The engine was designed from day one with future-proofing in mind, so it can be naturally aspirated, it can of course run as a non-hybrid too if need be. Emissions are the real issue though. I think it will be tough to meet the next set of requirements without running a hybrid system.

“There will probably also be V8 versions, but that would be as low as we go in terms of cylinder count, because it’s still a very extreme engine and very expensive obviously, so it is very much made for the hypercar world.”

Big plans for Zenvo. So, what does Sverdrup see for the Danish carmaker’s future?

“We are a hypercar brand. There’s no ambition to start doing family cars. Something like a Koenigsegg Gemera wouldn’t be on our radar. But yes, we’re planning a junior hypercar and hopefully we could make up to 500 of those, depending on what the brand and the market would take.

“I would love to make hypercars in new genres too, so not an SUV but a hyper off-roader.”

Stay tuned…