Horsepower: 700. Acceleration: 0 to 60 mph in four seconds. Top Speed: 130 mph. Range: 250 miles. Total exhaust emissions: zero. Meet the Lightning.
For drivers who want to be green but not boring, the new electric Lightning supercar could prove the ultimate eco-friendly boys' toy.
This emission free 130mph sports car – which has a hint of Jaguar, Aston Martin and TVR styling – can outpace a Porsche 911 or a Ferrari 575 – sprinting from rest to 60mph in under four seconds.
And though it will cost you a tingling £150,000, it is simply powered by 30 rechargeable batteries and doesn't use an ounce of fossil fuel.
The British-built two-seater 'Lightning' is fitted with four wheel-mounted motors that combine to power the car to 60 mph in under four seconds.
It develops 700 brake-horse-power – equivalent to about seven Ford fiestas.
The batteries have a range of 250 miles, take just 10 minutes to fully charge from home or on the road – thanks to 12ft cable which you simply plug into a socket.
The car is also equipped with regenerative braking – recovering some energy when the brakes are applied. This is not the same car that Tesla Motors has been developing (and are in the process of safety testing.) But Tesla is reportedly also in the process of developing a sedan that may come in around the $50-70k mark. Still awfully expensive, but that is starting to get down to more affordable numbers.
Practical and affordable electric cars would go a long way toward reducing oil consumption and would spare the rainforests and orangutans. We would need more nuclear power plants, though. But that is possible* and doesn't enter into the wishful thinking school of solutions.
* For the inevitable "but what about the nuclear waste" people, there is – and has been – a solution to that for a long time.
Call me feebleminded, but how can a car expend energy over 250 miles or several hours and then gain it all back in only 10 minutes by plugging into a (110?) socket? You are going to have to replace all the energy you consumed as batteries are merely storage containers. Is there an engineer out there who can calculate how many amps you would have to pull to recharge the batteries in 10 minutes?
Not enough data. I kind of doubt the 10 minute thing, too.
I’ll believe it when I see Jeremy Clarkson’s story on it, plus Robert Farrago’s story at thetruthaboutcars.com. I see the mentioned article has a line about “expected to be track tested later this year”, which I read as “these guys haven’t proved their claims.”
Color me….sceptical (an odd shade of tan, at present).
Or maybe I’m skeptical (still an odd shade, though.)