Let’s say you’ve found yourself thinking lately that modern V-12s just aren’t powerful enough. Paganis make, what, like 850 horsepower? The Ferrari 12Cilindri a paltry 819. Oooh. There’s the 1001-hp Aston Martin Valkyrie, but that just feels so … sluggish, no? Where could you turn? Who could you look to? Zenvo Automotive, probably.
The Danish supercar manufacturer has just unveiled its newest engine, the 1850-hp Mjølner powerplant, destined to propel its upcoming Aurora hypercar. At its heart is a quad-turbocharged 6.6-liter V-12 making 1250 hp, with an electric hybrid system utilizing a trio of motors that adds a further 600 horses when called upon. Zenvo claims its Mjølner engine will be the most powerful V-12 ever plunked down in a production car.
Developed in conjunction with Mahle Powertrain, the engine and hybrid system both will be constructed at Mahle’s U.K. headquarters. Zenvo says that with completion of this initial engine, extensive testing of the Aurora can begin.
“At Zenvo, we are a team of passionate, genuine ‘car guys,’” says company chairman Jens Sverdrup. “And it is not every day that a V-12 engine is born, so it is a very proud moment and very exciting to finally showcase Mjølner. The fact it is the world’s most powerful road car engine was not something we set out to achieve, but is a result of us pushing what we know is possible. This is a hugely important milestone, and the next step will see—and hear!—it come to life, and it has been designed to deliver at every level, which shows the progress we continue to make.”
The new powerplant, which redlines at 9800 rpm, features Mahle’s F1-derived Jet Ignition combustion technology, in development for more than a decade, “which replaces the standard spark plug in SI engines with a jet ignition pre-chamber assembly” that allows a cleaner, more efficient, and more powerful combustion to begin at the outside of the cylinder rather than the center. (Mahle’s site goes into much greater detail about this fascinating tech—if you love geeking out on this stuff like we do, check it out here.) Zenvo claims the engine prioritizes driver engagement, without sacrificing usability or emissions compliance. The company developed the Mjølner engine as a modular unit, which should allow the company to adapt it across future products.
Zenvo first entered the supercar realm in 2009, with the debut at Le Mans of its V-8–powered ST-1, which boasted 1104 hp. Just 15 copies were produced. A few models derived from the ST-1 followed, including the wild TSR-S of 2018 with its active rear wing. The Aurora was announced in March 2023 as a successor to the company’s TS1 GT, with two variants planned for limited production of just 50 units each: the road-focused all-wheel-drive Tur, which features all three electric motors, including one on each front wheel, and the track-oriented rear-drive Agil, which features one electric motor. Zenvo estimates 0–62 mph for the Agil in 2.5 seconds, with a top speed of 248 mph, while the Tur will hit 62 mph in 2.3 seconds en route to a 280 mph top end.
The company plans to debut the cars at this summer’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, with customer cars set for delivery in 2026.
Report by Stefan Lombard
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