Not bad figures for an electric

[kiwikrasher]

Just a pity about the price

200 HP, 168 ft-lbs, 218 mph Top speed.

http://lightningmotorcycle.com/product/specifications/

[StMarks]

Electric vehicles are really coming on now. aren't they.
Anything that is desirable in everything but price will have potential IMHO.

It says it weighs 211kg, but then shows (3x versions of) the battery packs as being a selectable option..: I wonder if they are therefore not included in that measurement (ala -"Dry weight" )

[Blade]

I believe battery weight is not always included by some manufacturers claimed dry weight figures for conventional motorcycles also.

[Blade]

Being a petrol head I can't see me ever getting battery power

And my choice is not just limited to 2 wheels. I would rather use a petrol powered chain saw than an electric one. Electric doesn't have any feeling or soul, it does roar and scream and scare you, it has no passion, it's not alive like a petrol engine.

No matter how good the performance of electric equipment this old dinosaur is always going to prefer fossil fuel

[kiwikrasher]

with you there Blade

[Cav]

I do see the appeal of an electric car though...

Automatic, comfortable (quiet), cheap to run, if designed right should have loads of extra space over a gasoline powered car.

[Blade]

I think the extra space tends to be full of battery's that need something like 12 hours charge to go 400 mile.

Give me a howling straight 6 or a muscular V8 petrol any day of the week over a pack of Duracell

[D41]

I'm not opposed to electric vehicles....I think if I were I'm just limiting my options...the Prius hybrid has been around for ages now and no-one even gives them a second thought these days....it's making that leap-of-faith switch to something with no track-record that seems to be the problem most people have.

Just look at the way air travel literally 'took off' in the 20th century.......from two brothers in a field at Kitty Hawk in 1903-ish to man landing on the Moon in '69.

[D41]

All of them Americans, I might add...../

[Cav]

Aha.. fair call on a V8!

Like I say - if designed right you get more space.

Tesla reckon you get 80% charge in 45minutes. That's pretty good going. I think the range on that is approximately 400 miles by which point a lunch stop would be appreciated (unless you are driver swapping)

[Kwacky]

I see a few Tesla cars now on the way into work. They look good and they're very quick.

[Blade]

Im always going to be a petrol head I'm afraid.

A combustion engine is a living thing an electric motor is merely efficent at best but it lacks soul, character, feel, passion, excitment.

[duke63]

Diesel engines in cars will be gone within 10 years and I reckon petrol at best has 20 years.

Government company car tax is already making petrol and hybrids especially the better option. The tax on a £45k Mereceds. E class hybrid is about £100 per month. On the diesel equivalent it's about 3 times that.

[D41]

Just for me personally....around here, hybrids, electrics, bikes, etc.....they all get to enjoy the advantages of the HOV lanes on the freeways.....so you're not only saving on the fuel money you waste while you're both "idling" in traffic, you save a LOT of time, as we all know LA traffic is a MASSIVE slice of Heaven.

Time is money, etc.


I think I'd be willing to mebbe take a chance on an electric bike....it would just have to be as a second bike though. You couldn't really go out on a group ride with one, but I see a few boys & girls using them for commuting, so they must be making them work, somehow. My stepson used one as his only transport when he was going to classes, and he loved it.

[StMarks]

...I think I'd be willing to mebbe take a chance on an electric bike....it would just have to be as a second bike though. You couldn't really go out on a group ride with one, but I see a few boys & girls using them for commuting, so they must be making them work, somehow. My stepson used one as his only transport when he was going to classes, and he loved it.

That's given me a thought.. Shouldn't the School Buses over there in the us be electric powered.? -Plenty of floor length in which to locate the battery packs at a low centre of gravity. Zero emission, high torque etc etc etc...

[Cav]

Same with buses over here mate.. we were just having this discussion at work

[StMarks]

Same with buses over here mate.. we were just having this discussion at work

Oh I agree mate.
It was just D41's post that made me think, especially with California specifically being even more "Prius-y" ..

Maybe it's simply the capital costs that prohibits their production.

[Blade]

Diesel engines in cars will be gone within 10 years and I reckon petrol at best has 20 years.

Government company car tax is already making petrol and hybrids especially the better option. The tax on a £45k Mereceds. E class hybrid is about £100 per month. On the diesel equivalent it's about 3 times that.

Interestingly the other day at the 5 series launch I asked to drive the 535d and they said its not been released yet. The current top diesel is the 530d and BMW are watching what happens with government policy before they commit to making another high powered diesel model in the line up.

[Monty]

I'm well up for an electric bike and car when the technology matures.

Instant torque every where and just imagine how good traction control is going to get when we stop doing it with fuel and ignition coils.

[kiwikrasher]

I'm well up for an electric bike and car when the technology matures.

Instant torque every where and just imagine how good traction control is going to get when we stop doing it with fuel and ignition coils.

Yup.

The point at which an electric vehicle will seem viable for me is when the carbon foot print of the manufacture, use and disposal of them including the batteries, is smaller than a fossil fuelled vehicle.