lightning electric

it’s an interesting time for people interested in alternate energy vehicles. on the one extreme of the spectrum you have a spate of vehicles that look almost apologetic for being on the road. at the other extreme, you have vehicles that you’d need to mortgage the house in order to be able to afford them.

today’s vehicle falls into the latter category, and mortgage your house you will when you see it!!! with styling that blends jaguar, corvette, and marcos,
the new lightning gt will be powered by energy stored in altairnano’s nanosafe batteries. the all new chassis uses aluminum honey comb and composite in its construction.

a three model lineup is planned that includes a luxury model, a lightweight sport version that goes 0-60 in under four seconds and an extended range model that can run 250 miles on a single ten minute charge. lightning is using hi-pa drive wheel motors with a combined output of 700hp. green and ridiculously powerful and fast!

arthur wolstenholme, technical director at lightning, was quoted recently in treehugger saying . . .
"ten, or perhaps even five years ago, electric power was dismissed as a poor substitute for petrol, diesel or lpg. but the world has moved on significantly – from military and aerospace applications, electric motor and battery technologies have been developed that will enable the lightning to demonstrate 700 plus bhp performance over a range that exceeds some of today's petrol performance cars. what's more, the lightning is intended to compete with premium market sport cars, but our electric power should outstrip the response rates, torque characteristics and driveability of most exotic performance super cars. electric power has truly arrived in the performance market."

the lightning’s closest competition comes from the tesla recently roadtested by motortrend and currently being assembled over at lotus whose commitment to green technology and association with tesla is documented here.



the price for a lightning? well you need to put down a fifteen thousand pound deposit to secure your place in line . . . that translates to just over thirty thousand canadian dollars. finished prices will be around the one hundred fifty thousand pound mark or three hundred thousand canadian depending on the level of finish you require. a lot of money to be sure but i would love to see a cost analysis on the savings accured from zero gasoline useage over say five and ten years. by the looks and sounds of things, an investment well worth it!!