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Alieno Arcanum, the 5,221 HP Electric Hypercar That Tells a Very Tall Tale

What an amazing way to start the spooky season: on October 1, Alieno, the maker of the world’s most outrageous all-electric hypercar, the Arcanum, revealed the full specs for the interior.
The Alieno Arcanum hypercar is the most technologically advanced, fastest and safest e-hyper on the planet 14 photos
Photo: Alieno
The Alieno Arcanum hypercar is the most technologically advanced, fastest and safest e-hyper on the planetThe Alieno Arcanum hypercar is the most technologically advanced, fastest and safest e-hyper on the planetThe Alieno Arcanum hypercar is the most technologically advanced, fastest and safest e-hyper on the planetThe Alieno Arcanum hypercar is the most technologically advanced, fastest and safest e-hyper on the planetThe Alieno Arcanum hypercar is the most technologically advanced, fastest and safest e-hyper on the planetThe Alieno Arcanum hypercar is the most technologically advanced, fastest and safest e-hyper on the planetThe Alieno Arcanum hypercar is the most technologically advanced, fastest and safest e-hyper on the planetThe Alieno Arcanum hypercar is the most technologically advanced, fastest and safest e-hyper on the planetThe Alieno Arcanum hypercar is the most technologically advanced, fastest and safest e-hyper on the planetThe Alieno Arcanum hypercar is the most technologically advanced, fastest and safest e-hyper on the planetThe Alieno Arcanum hypercar is the most technologically advanced, fastest and safest e-hyper on the planetThe Alieno Arcanum hypercar is the most technologically advanced, fastest and safest e-hyper on the planetThe Alieno Arcanum hypercar is the most technologically advanced, fastest and safest e-hyper on the planet
The Arcanum, officially introduced in CGI form in 2018, is the world’s most technologically advanced and high-performance all-electric vehicle, with a maximum of 5,221 horsepower on tap, a top speed of 303 mph (487.6 kph), 1,000+-mile (1,610 km) range and other, similarly-insane specs. You’re excused if the name doesn’t ring a bell: the Arcanum does not exist yet, but according to Alieno, it will do so – maybe even as early as the first quarter of 2021.

The claims

It’s best if you sat down for this.

When it’s made (and it will be made, Alieno promises), the Arcanum will be the absolute best of everything. It will be faster, more powerful and more efficient than anything else on the market right now, whether gas-powered or electric, and more customizable and customer-friendly, too. Somehow paradoxically, it will also be winning top honors in terms of safety, because it will be “the safest car on the road.”

The Alieno Arcanum hypercar is the most technologically advanced, fastest and safest e\-hyper on the planet
Photo: Alieno
As noted above, the Arcanum was introduced a couple of years ago, by Alieno founder Ahmed Enchev, as the flagship model for the new company. The 5,221 hp, 8,880 Nm of torque model is the top offering in a line of similarly-specced e-hypercars, starting with the 2,610 hp RP2. That said, everything about the car is highly customizable, from the layout of the interior and the trimmings, to the way the car handles on the street or the ride-height, which is independently adjustable.

With three driving modes (Street, Race and Track), the Arcanum uses six axial flux electric motors per wheel, for a total of 24 motors that allow the driver to switch them on and off for efficiency. The owner can switch between AWD and front or rear wheel drive, according to preferences.

Range is of 1,020 km (634 miles), with a full charge achievable in as little as four minutes. This is not a typo: Alieno claims this will be possible if the future owner opts for a 2,700-kilowatt DC charging station they will build at his or her home.

Everything on the Arcanum is carbon fiber and kevlar, from the chassis to the seats and the mirrors. The design is inspired by fighter jets and Darth Vader’s helmet for the rear, while the interior takes design cues from Avatar and Prometheus. Yes, the movies.

The Alieno Arcanum hypercar is the most technologically advanced, fastest and safest e\-hyper on the planet
Photo: Alieno
Again, everything on the Arcanum is “robotic.” The seats are robotic, the wheel and the steering column are robotic, the suspension is robotic (and Alieno-patented), the wheels and the regenerative brakes are robotic. The car will have no less than 17 cameras, one LiDAR, 8 radars, a GPS, an IMU, a bunch of other unspecified sensors and a voice assistant called Alieno Artificial Intelligence. But you can call it The Alien, for short. Updates will be delivered over the air, via the Alieno Cloud.

For the interior, Alieno has paid close attention to other hypercars are doing wrong and set out to make those things right again. So, in addition to even more carbon fiber and kevlar, real leather and Alcantara, owners will also get 2 or 4 cup holders and a special storage space for drinks with cooling and heating options, a glovebox and even more storage space behind the front seats.

You also get adaptive LED lights, lots of screens and gadgets, but overall a comfortable, welcoming interior.

“The overall theme is ultra-modernism with some Sci-Fi and futuristic accents,” Chief Design Officer Encho Enchev (probably Ahmed’s brother) says of the interior. “We want our customers to feel like they are in the cockpit of a spaceship, which the car resembles, given the technologies built into it. Our inspiration for the interior comes from the cockpits of many military fights and science fiction movies such as Avatar and Prometheus.”

The Alieno Arcanum hypercar is the most technologically advanced, fastest and safest e\-hyper on the planet
Photo: Alieno
Pricing for the Arcanum starts at around €1.5 million ($1.75 million), which Alieno is quick to highlight is not much more expensive than current hypercar offers. Ok, so maybe those makers have been around the block once or twice, but are you really willing to let that get in the way of driving the most outrageous car on the planet?

The red flags

Not that we really need to lay them out, but they’re there, starting from the fact that this is a no-name company out of Bulgaria, making the most astounding claims in the entire automotive industry. Reaching for the stars is always an admirable thing, but not when you’re selling unicorns.

And unicorns is probably what Alieno is building. As New Atlas points out, the location given for the production plant in Tuhovishta, Bulgaria, is a lot outside of a little village near the border with Greece that’s so isolated even Google hasn’t sent a car there for mapping since 2012. As such, it’s difficult to determine whether anything is actually happening there.

Enchev, the mastermind behind Arcanum, has experience with selling metal detectors and was once involved in a project meant to build a humanoid robot that would be similar to humans in everything from learning to social interactions. That project never amounted to anything, by the way.

The Alieno Arcanum hypercar is the most technologically advanced, fastest and safest e\-hyper on the planet
Photo: Alieno
Even materials released officially by Alieno raise a brow or two, or a couple of pairs. This includes their videos, photos showing development at the production plant (which, so far, involves buying a lot of robots), and last but not least, their claims.

“We had to make sure we were creating a user friendly car, which is drivable,” Ivan Kirov, Chief Test Pilot and Chief Sales Officer for Alieno, said of the Arcanum. “Not only drivable, but also pleasant to drive. Easy to drive, smooth, fun, enjoyable, safe or simply flawless. Superior in every way, to what we have seen or driven so far. Just perfect. Everything in this car happens logically. The maximum acceleration is easily achievable, by anyone who buys the car. The car is the safest one on the road in any term. It is amazingly stable and maneuverable. The braking is smooth and also logical. It feels like a normal car for anyone who drives it.”

Add this to the other, equally awe-inspiring specs on the Arcanum, and you get what they mean by that old saying, “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” Oh, and Alieno is accepting pre-orders right now and is taking on investors.

That said, keep an eye out for January 2021, which is when the Arcanum is expected to make its debut.
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About the author: Elena Gorgan
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Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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