Jens Sverdrup: "I think it's hard for people, including you guys in the press, to reconcile TSR to this. Of course it was time to change. It's been overdue. But it's ironic; once you tell the world TSR is going out of production, then people want it again. Cars 15, 16 and 17 are currently in build and, including prototypes, we will have built 25 by the time Aurora takes over. Starting from scratch was not an easy decision. Emotionally yes, financially no. Aurora definitely puts us in a different league, which was the plan. It's almost not related to anything Zenvo has done so far."
They considered building and developing the V12 themselves. "Pretty quickly we realised that the emissions and homologation requirements meant that we needed to work with Mahle Powertrain, the guys that have done what, eight or nine other V12s?" (Mahle Powertrain was formerly Cosworth Technology Group, owned by Audi Group until 2005.) "All the engineers are so enthusiastic about it because they've been doing electric powertrains for the last few years. They were like, "Yes! We're gonna make the greatest V12 ever!" It's probably going to be the last V12 they do – maybe even the last internal combustion engine they do – so it's all about going out with a bang. They're putting everything into it to make the best, most responsive V12 turbo engine… ever!"
The 6.6-litre, 90-deg V12 will rev to 9800rpm and develop 1250bhp and just over 1000lb ft or torque. A key technology allowing it to meet Euro 7 is Mahle's "jet ignition". This is a miniature pre-chamber where the charge is initially ignited and then evenly distributed to the combustion chamber, resulting in a very complete burn, delivering up to a 95 per cent reduction in NOx emissions and a 10 per cent reduction in fuel consumption. With some elements in carbon, the compact, dry-sump, all-aluminium V12 is said to weigh less than 260kg.
Zenvo intends to build 100 Auroras, 50 each of Agil and Tur, with first deliveries in 2026 and prices starting at €2.6 million (£2 million). "Of course you can go crazy and spend another 500k on carbon pattern options," says Sverdrup. "If we can break even on the 100 cars then fantastic. There will be other cars in the future that we will make money on."
"We have this modular carbon chassis, where we can change the subframes around the monocoque and the roof structures and do completely different cars with it. It's a modular engine too; we thought if we're going to spend all this money we'd better get more than one engine out of it, so we are doing simultaneous development of a 4.4-litre, twin-turbo V8 and 3.3-litre, twin-turbo V6. We already have a few customers lined up for both engines, so that helps to pay for Aurora, and we're upfront about employing Mahle Powertrain and that reduced the cost too. It will be easy for us to make a twin-turbo V8 junior hypercar in a few years without spending too much money. That's when it's starting to pay off. We have a base that's good for the next 20 years."
For now, though, the Aurora is the priority. "It's a bit tricky to sell it because the media is very numbers-based, but we're going all-in on the emotional thing," says Sverdrup. "Our car will be suitably noisy but we'll have active mounts and stuff like that for comfort and refinement, sacrificing a bit of weight and performance: we just want to make the best road car."
"I'd say our philosophy is not a million miles away from Gordon Murray's. Normally you set benchmarks for horsepower and performance but that’s not been the case with Aurora. Instead we’re asking what’s the sweet spot? Make it go as fast as you can until it’s not comfortable to drive at normal speeds? How fast can you go before it’s not fun anymore? We haven’t set gear ratios to hit performance benchmarks but for what feels best, driving predominantly on the road."
The gearbox is a seven-speed with an automated single clutch and an integral electric motor that additionally takes on the role of starter motor and reverse gear. It fills in the torque when the V12’s turbos are spooling up and helps manage traction control too. The small battery allows a pure electric range of up to 21 miles. A twin-clutch gearbox capable of handling the torque of the V12 would have been far too heavy, says Sverdrup. "We’ve had the gearbox on test for two and a half years now in one of our TSR mules. It’s been developed with Wanni Albertini and NFX. It’s based on lessons learned with a prototype gearbox [Zenvo founder] Troels Vollertsen and Wanni developed a few years back but it’s all-new, not an upgrade of anything previous."
Sverdrup says it can be mapped to be really smooth or give race car-like shifts, and will be offered with straight-cut gears too. Customer feedback is that they don’t want DSG-style super-smooth shifts, he says, they want some engagement. The shift characteristics for the two models will differ dramatically: Agil will be very mechanical, Tur much smoother. The current task is to translate the current prototype gearbox into something much smaller and lighter: "When you see the car you’ll understand that the packaging is a challenge."
Another engaging aspect of the Aurora will be the steering, which will feature a variable-ratio rack with hydraulic power assistance. EPAS just doesn’t fit with the philosophy of the Aurora, says Sverdrup. He cites the Lotus Evora, 997-generation 911 and McLaren 675LT as cars that deliver the steering feel and feedback Zenvo is looking for. "I’m mentioning some of our benchmarking cars when it comes to steering. Right now we’re doing a lot of testing in the simulator before we put prototypes on the road next summer. We’ll have reliable engines by January."
Aurora will be built at the Zenvo factory in Præstø, Denmark. "We have a very good carbon department, and we’ll build the engines in Denmark for sure. Our philosophy is super simple: we do it if we can do it better, faster, cheaper. If others can do it better, faster, cheaper then there’s no reason for us to do it just for the sake of doing it. It ends up with us doing most things. We just care more. Also there’s no motorsport valley on our doorstep. It’s innovation out of necessity."
It’s a big step for a small company that has delivered little more than a handful of cars – and cars that haven’t always been favourably reviewed. It’s a big risk, too, so will it deliver the reward? "At some point people realise that you’re here to stay," says Sverdrup. "I believe in this long game. You build up a loyal customer base and you learn a lot. I think we’re at that sort of turning point now with this car. It puts us in a different league."
A few days after we spoke with Sverdrup, the two show cars were revealed to the public at The Quail, Monterey. The reaction was very positive, he says, with many orders being placed. How many? "Hard to tell exactly. We also had orders going into this, and it depends on how many invoices get paid, etc. The goal was always to come away 50 per cent sold out and so far it looks like we’ve overshot that, which is fantastic, but I’ll know more when the payments start coming in. I’ve been in the game too long to consider anything sold until it’s paid for, but it’s extremely positive and orders are trickling in steadily from all over the world."
"Aurora is our breakthrough car. We have the world’s greatest V12 and a very bright future."
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