700 hp Electric Lightning GT @ London Auto Show
07-22-08, 09:02 PM
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700 hp Electric Lightning GT @ London Auto Show
Updated: The Tesla Roadster has had next-to-no competition in the market for high-powered electric sports cars but that’s about to change as the UK’s Lightning Car Company has announced that its 700hp (522kW) all-electric GT. The car will make its global debut at the London Motor Show tomorrow, but the company today released a new set of images for the car. The company first started taking orders for the car late last year and will soon be ready to start deliveries of its first vehicles.
The battery pack will be made by AltairNano using the company’s NanoSafe technology, which use nano titanate materials instead of graphite which makes them far more thermally stable and able to recharge in as little as 10 minutes, rather than hours like conventional batteries. Additionally, the NanoSafe batteries have a life expectancy of over 12 years and can retain as much as 85% of their original charge even after 15,000 cycles, alleviating much of the concern over limited lifetimes and high replacement costs of the battery packs. And the batteries themselves are already in use in another electric vehicle, the Phoenix Motors pickup truck.
Original: The electric sports car segment is about to heat up with the announcement that UK’s Lightning Car Company is now taking pre-orders for its all-electric GT ahead of a scheduled launch date in early 2009. We first reported about the Lightning GT in June of last year but since then the car’s design has been given a total revamp and final production specifications have been confirmed.
Powering the GT is a new 700hp electric powertrain featuring nano titanate battery technology, which is enough to propel the car from 0-60mph in a flat four seconds and take it a top speed of about 130mph. The electric drive system, dubbed Hi-Pa Drive, packs four permanent magnet brushless motors developing at least 120kW in each wheel and features full traction control and regenerative braking on all four wheels independently.
American rival Tesla Motors has had some major issues with the transmission system in the Tesla Roadster in months following up to their planned release date, however Lightning should have no such problems. Due to power being developed separately in each wheel, there are no gearboxes, differentials, axles, drive shafts or propshafts in the Lightning sports car.
One of the key benefits of electric vehicles is that they have maximum available power at the wheels at any speed, unlike a petrol engine where maximum power is only obtained high up in the rev range. Officials claim charging the batteries for just ten minutes will provide up to 250 miles of driving, and at current prices driving one mile will cost just 2.5 cents.
To save weight, the car’s body is made from carbon fibre and Kevlar, and even with the full array of batteries on board the GT has a near ideal weight distribution of 48/52 front to rear. The car is also available with luxury items such as air-conditioning, satnav, and full leather trim.
The battery pack will be made by AltairNano using the company’s NanoSafe technology, which use nano titanate materials instead of graphite which makes them far more thermally stable and able to recharge in as little as 10 minutes, rather than hours like conventional batteries. Additionally, the NanoSafe batteries have a life expectancy of over 12 years and can retain as much as 85% of their original charge even after 15,000 cycles, alleviating much of the concern over limited lifetimes and high replacement costs of the battery packs. And the batteries themselves are already in use in another electric vehicle, the Phoenix Motors pickup truck.
Original: The electric sports car segment is about to heat up with the announcement that UK’s Lightning Car Company is now taking pre-orders for its all-electric GT ahead of a scheduled launch date in early 2009. We first reported about the Lightning GT in June of last year but since then the car’s design has been given a total revamp and final production specifications have been confirmed.
Powering the GT is a new 700hp electric powertrain featuring nano titanate battery technology, which is enough to propel the car from 0-60mph in a flat four seconds and take it a top speed of about 130mph. The electric drive system, dubbed Hi-Pa Drive, packs four permanent magnet brushless motors developing at least 120kW in each wheel and features full traction control and regenerative braking on all four wheels independently.
American rival Tesla Motors has had some major issues with the transmission system in the Tesla Roadster in months following up to their planned release date, however Lightning should have no such problems. Due to power being developed separately in each wheel, there are no gearboxes, differentials, axles, drive shafts or propshafts in the Lightning sports car.
One of the key benefits of electric vehicles is that they have maximum available power at the wheels at any speed, unlike a petrol engine where maximum power is only obtained high up in the rev range. Officials claim charging the batteries for just ten minutes will provide up to 250 miles of driving, and at current prices driving one mile will cost just 2.5 cents.
To save weight, the car’s body is made from carbon fibre and Kevlar, and even with the full array of batteries on board the GT has a near ideal weight distribution of 48/52 front to rear. The car is also available with luxury items such as air-conditioning, satnav, and full leather trim.
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