Creating the world’s most powerful production V12

Meet the team behind the Zenvo Automotive ‘Mjølner’ powertrain

As the Zenvo Aurora programme continues towards its 2026 production target, development of the ‘Mjølner’ powertrain is accelerating. The pioneering set up goes against convention, ensuring Aurora is a truly global hypercar. The most powerful production V12 ever built, while also meeting global emissions standards.

With Zenvo Automotive preparing to showcase the Aurora at Monterey Car Week in California, the latest episode in the Zenvo Automotive docuseries provides a unique insight into the challenges and details of this groundbreaking powertrain. Working with engine experts MAHLE Powertrain, the collaborative team leading the project explains what goes into developing, packaging and delivering a system capable of delivering 1,250bhp, integrating with a state-of-the-art hybrid system, revving to 9,800rpm, without compromising any of the driveability.

The all-new powertrain combines the latest technologies with tried and tested methods and processes, pulling on decades of experience held by MAHLE Powertrain. This collaborative approach has pushed industry boundaries, requiring out-of-the-box thinking to achieve the performance, efficiencies and engagement which were set at the beginning of the ambitious project. The result is a powertrain benefitting from ideas, approaches and best practices, while achieving global emissions targets through the entire lifespan the engine.

“We always knew that the Aurora project was going to be a push for what was possible through conventional and regular thinking,” explains Jens Sverdrup, Chairman and CCO, Zenvo Automotive. “Was an off-the-shelf system more straightforward? Of course. Was it ever an option? Absolutely not. Aurora is about delivering no compromises, and that means developing our own powertrain which delivers exactly what we wanted, exactly how we wanted it. Like the car itself, the ‘Mjølner’ powertrain pushes the boundaries of what can be done from an engineering perspective. No compromise.”