Lightning Motorcycles Teases LS-218 Electric Superbike

Having conquered Pikes Peak last year, Lightning Motorcycles is ready to debut the consumer version of their race-ready electric motorcycle, the LS-218. If you have an extra $38,888 lying around, and an unquenchable need for electric speed, this is your bike.

That’s a steep price to be sure, but consider the pedigree you get with your purchase. A Lightning Motorcycle the first to break the 200 MPH barrier for electric two-wheelers, topping out at 218 MPH, where the LS-218 gets its name. The LS-218 also shares the same drivetrain as the Lightning bike that dominated the motorcycle class at last year’s Pikes Peak hill climb, beating the closest conventional competitor by over 20 seconds.

You want specs? We got specs, 200 horsepower worth of specs from a liquid-cooled electric motor with up to 20 kWh of lithium-ion battery pack to back it up. 12 and 15 kWh battery packs are also available, but this is a “Go big or go home” kinda electric motorcycle, and there’s no sense in getting anything other than the best. Brembo brakes, magnesium wheels, and a host of other high-tech goodies come crammed into this zero-emissions superbike…which hasn’t even been fully revealed yet.

That will have to wait until this weekend, though it’s easy to tell from the shadowy teaser pic that the production design has stayed mostly-true to Glenn Kerr’s 2012 design. Aesthetics aside, all that really matters in a bike this expensive is performance, and Lightning has got that much all locked up with unassailable motorsports experience.

Source: Lightning Motorcycles

Peugeot Building Lightweight, 135 MPG Hot Hatch

Fresh off its record-breaking run at Pikes Peak, French automaker Peugeot is wasting no time touting its hot hatchback credentials. Next up? A project known as the Peugeot 208 FE, a hot hatchback weighing around just 1,700 pounds, capable of 135 mpg on the European testing cycle, and still able to zip from 0 to 60 mph in under 8 seconds.

The hot hatchback craze has been popular in Europe for some 30-odd years now, Peugeot has always been a contender in this competitive segment. The 208 FE is a radical concept, utilizing extensive use of carbon fiber, replacing just about everything from the A-pillar back with the lightweight substance.

This alone saved about 400 pounds in weight, and other small advantages, like a 20-liter/5 gallon gas tank and fiberglass “blade” suspension keep the peppy Peugeot at around just 1,700 pounds. This allows the bored-out, 1.2 liter to run on the more-efficient Atkinson cycle, though Peugeot still fitted the little motor with a racing cylinder head.

But wait, there’s more! A 40 horsepower electric motor (detuned from 134 horsepower) is borrowed from the now-discontinued Pegeuot 908 HYbrid4 Le Mans racer, and the lithium-ion battery pack allows for up to 12 miles just electricity.

Peugeot is aiming for a sub-8-second sprint from 0-60 mph, which falls squarely in the “average” range for most conventional cars. While the 5-gallon fuel tank may be off-putting at first, remember that the engineers are calling for a 135 mpg rating. Even on the generous European testing cycle, this could still work out to over 100 mpg, allowing that tiny amount of fuel to take you 500 miles or more between fill-ups. While not as pretty as Puegeots other concepts, like the Onyx supercar, or as outlandish as the 117 mpg air-hybrid, it still seems like a righteous idea.

That is, of course, if they build it. Which they should, as a competitor to the 261 mpg Volkswagen XL1. Are we seeing the rise of a new class of car, the super hybrid?

Source: AutoExpress

Monster Tajima Bringing New Electric Racer To Pikes Peak

There are a great many races on my bucket list, among them the annual Race to the Clouds at Pikes Peak. For whatever reason, the Pikes Peak race has drawn a lot of entries in the alternative fuel vehicle category. Nobuhiro “Monster” Tajima has raced Pikes Peak many times, and last year he set a new world record, becoming the first driver to break the 10-minute barrier.

This year Tajima is bringing an all new electric ride to conquer the Peak again, and break his own record. It would not be the first electric vehicle on the Peak, nor would it be the first purpose-built electric racer set to conquer the clouds. But Tajima clearly wants to push the barrier and preserve his record-setting run with another record setting run in an all-electric vehicle.

We have no details; just this Jetsons-like drawing of a futuristic racer that we assume will bear some resemblence to Tajima’s actual ride. Perhaps Tajima, who rocked a gas-powered twin-turbo V6 (heavily modified) SuzukiSX4 to break last year’s record, realizes that electric vehicles have an inherent advantage over combustion engines. That advantage is simple; electric motors don’t need much air, which is in short supply at higher elevations, drastically affecting the power output of conventional vehicles.

An electric car will suffer no such power loss. With enough power, EV’s should, in theory, dominate the sport of hill-climbing. Will Tajima start an electric race car revolution? This writer certainly hopes so.

Source: Gas2.0