Power unit

A power unit, particularly for a hybrid vehicle, comprising:

• a two-cylinder reciprocating piston engine comprising exactly two pistons guided in two cylinders in tandem arrangement, and two counter-rotating crankshafts connected to the pistons by connecting rods,
• a single generator which is rotatable in the same direction as the first crankshaft and in the opposite direction to the second crankshaft, and
• a balancer shaft which is rotatable in the same direction as the second crankshaft and in the opposite direction to the first crankshaft,
• wherein the generator is operatively connected directly to the first crankshaft by a first traction mechanism and the balancer shaft is operatively connected directly to the second crankshaft by a second traction mechanism, and wherein the balancer shaft supports a flywheel mass element,
• wherein the first traction mechanism connects the first crankshaft exclusively to the generator, the second traction mechanism connects the second crankshaft exclusively to the balancer shaft, the first traction mechanism and the second traction mechanism have the same length, and wherein the first traction mechanism and the second traction mechanism are respectively formed by a toothed chain or a toothed belt.