General Questions
Q: Where did the name “Tachyon Speed” come from?
A: In Physics. a “tachyon” is a hypothetical particle that always moves faster than light. We thought it would be an inspiring name to fit our extreme design and performance goals.
Q: Is the Tachyon Speed available for purchase?
A: Yes! We are now taking a very limited number of orders for our first production vehicles.
Prices start at $750,000 and can rise to over $1,500,000 depending on component selection such as power requirements and level of finish. Approximate build time is 18 months.
If you have serious interest in becoming a part of our RAESR family as a valued customer, please send us a note on our “Contact” page.
Q: Is the car street-legal?
A: Yes! We have achieved street-legal certification of our prototype Tachyon Speed through California’s Specialty Vehicle Manufacturing category.
The production cars sold to USA customers will be registered in the United States as being built by a “Low-Volume Vehicle Manufacturer”.
For international buyers, we will make every attempt to certify the customer’s car for road-legal status in their home country. We are designing and engineering many modern (government-regulated) safety features into our first production vehicles. Our long-term goal is to achieve international homologation; however, this process takes several years.
Q: What is a Kilowatt-Hour (kWh)?
A: A "kilowatt-hour" refers to how many hours a battery can output 1kW of power, which is equal to 1.34hp.
Production
Q: What’s the difference between your upcoming production vehicle and the prototype being shown now?
A: The production car will benefit from the advancements in electric powertrain components such as those found in motorsport (ie. Formula 1 and Formula E). The production vehicle will have over 90% of its components upgraded (ie. Powertrain, more modern LED designed headlights), with the same overall body design-language of a jet-fighter mixed with an LMP. Advances in electric vehicle technology, particularly in battery technology, will add significant range and power to the production vehicle. We are also offering a parallel hybrid option (PHEV) for customers that want to spend more time at the track. We worked with engineers from motorsport to design and engineer a full carbon tub monocoque for the production model. This carbon tub, along with full-carbon bodywork, will reduce the production vehicle weight by at least 15-20% compared to the prototype while adding 30+% more power through updated components. The production car will have an updated GUI interface on the interior, advanced LED headlights (we used DOT approved halogen on the prototype), and a professional fit-and-finish working with world-class craftsmen.
Q: Will your production model offer any kind of increased range packages?
A: Yes, during our consultation process we help customers decide on what type of battery pack set up is best for them. Whether their goal is to travel 300+ miles on a single charge, be able to lap the Nurburgring ring several times between charges, or run 7s in the quarter mile, we custom-tailor the pack and powertrain to fit any of these needs.
Q: How will your production model compete with Tesla and other EV supercar manufactures like Rimac?
A: We are a speciality boutique that offers a highly personalized and extreme experience when compared to those provided by larger EV manufacturers. Our upcoming production model emphasizes a track-focused development in addition to providing radical street performance.
Q: How long will it take to charge your production model?
A: Customer cars will be optimized to the customer’s charging specifications and needs. We offer consulting services to help the customer decide the optimal charging for their work and home.
Prototype
Q: What kind of safety features do you utilize? What if it flips over? How do you protect the driver and passenger from potential catastrophic battery failures?
A: The tandem seat arrangement allows for the passengers to be in the center of the vehicle, which is the safest place in the event of a side-impact. Our prototype utilizes a race-car derived chromoly tube frame chassis with dual roll bars (one for the driver and another for the passenger). In case of roll over, the roof will therefore not cave in, and the driver and passenger can both escape by popping out the side windows with break+pop tools kept in the immediate vicinity of both people inside the vehicle.
The Tachyon Speed prototype's battery pack was engineered and built completely in-house using layers of military-grade materials to physically and electrically isolate all high voltage components from the cabin. These materials include precision-machined 6061 aluminum, Nomex XF (an aerospace-grade flame retardant), polycarbonate, Delrin, GPO-3, and flame retardant foam.
The planned production model will have additional safety features such having the batteries enclosed within the carbon monocoque (for additional crash protection), and will meet high-g (30+) FIA crash safety standards.
Q: Why is the range on your prototype so low compared to other EVs like Tesla?
A: Our focus on the prototype was to generate extreme levels of power while keeping the power to weight ratio as high as possible at the expense of maximizing range.
Q: Can you elaborate on your Tachyon Speed prototype horsepower claims?
A: If you’re reading this, you probably understand horsepower and torque. For those that don’t, please keep in mind that horsepower is a measure of work done and torque is a measure of rotational force. An electric powertrain has many differences to internal combustion engine (ICE) formats in how it generates horsepower and torque.
The horsepower of an ICE can be measured at the crankshaft (with or without ancillary pullies), as well as at the wheel (usually with a 15-20% loss of power to the wheels due to the mechanical friction of the gearbox and differential). Just as there are losses from the source of power to the wheels in an ICE format, EV powertrains also experience a reduction of power to the wheels. In an EV powertrain, however, there are some differences as to how this loss occurs.
In EV powertrain horsepower, the power originates in the battery pack through the chemistry inside the individual battery cells harnessing the movement of free electrons. The voltage and current discharge (amperage) of a battery pack are the variables that determine an electric vehicle's horsepower. For example, our prototype battery pack at full charge is 532VDC and is capable of peak current discharges of 2640A. Multiplying these two figures yields 1.4mW, which is equal to approximately 1874hp; however, there are losses in power as the potential work is converted into wheel or brake horsepower.
One limiting factor to EV horsepower at the wheels is "voltage sag", which happens when inverters are instructed to draw high amounts of DC current from a battery pack. Voltage sag is an inherent characteristic of battery discharge and describes the drop in power from the battery pack to the inverters as the batteries are discharged.
There is also an approximate 5% drop in efficiency through the inverter itself through the conversion of DC power into AC pulses which modulate the motors into producing rotational force.
Given these kinds of losses in efficiency, our prototype is limited to 1250hp at the wheels.
One additional factor to consider is that each of our prototype’s 6 motors are designed to handle a maximum amount of voltage (720V) and current (450A). With an addition to our prototype battery pack, we would be capable of achieving almost 300hp per motor for a cumulative horsepower value of 1800hp. Our production car will have a higher capacity for power and torque, utilizing an 800V system and batteries capable of a continuous current discharge of 3000A (2.4mW power output).
Q: How functional are your aerodynamic features on the prototype like the front and rear wings? Have you done any CFD testing?
A: From its inception, the Tachyon Speed design was inspired by a fighter jet layout. We validated the prototype’s aerodynamics through iterative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) testing prior to starting our build process. Performing these tests enabled us to measure and improve values such as downforce and coefficient of drag. The production car will utilize a similar but increasingly sophisticated aerodynamic system.
Q: How long does it take to charge your prototype?
A: The prototype uses a level 2 charger and charges from empty to full when plugged in overnight.
