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British firm developing 700BHP electric sports car

 
5 1,541 views Jun 12, 2007
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British firm developing 700BHP electric sports car

British firm developing 700BHP electric sports car

The electric sports car segment is about to heat up with the announcement that the UK’s Lightning Car Company is currently developing a new GT to rival Tesla’s famous Roadster. Powered by individual electric motors in each wheel hub, the combined output of the car will be in the area of 700bhp. Each motor will produce peak torque of 750Nm, with 100% of twist available from zero rpm.

The new GT will be offered in three different guises. The standard model will be the ‘GT’, followed by the lightweight ‘GTS’ and the long-range ‘GTSE’, the latter featuring extra battery packs designed to increase the driving range to 250 miles. The carmaker claims the car should reach 60mph from rest in less than four seconds and the batteries will take just ten minutes to charge.

The current stumbling block for most carmakers developing electric vehicles is battery technology. Lightning Car has overcome the problem, it says, by utilizing Nanosafe batteries from Altairnano Inc., which has been developing the technology since the start of the decade. The four-wheel electric drivetrain is being sourced from another company, PML Flightlink Ltd, whose ‘Hi-Pa Drive’ technology can regenerate power under braking.

Full carbon-fiber construction for the car’s body and a monocoque chassis made from aluminum honeycomb subsections means the new GT should only weigh about 1,350kg with the batteries installed. Lightning Car are hoping to have the first car ready for evaluation by the end of the year with the first orders set to start by the end of 2008.

Via: Piston Heads



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Comments (5)

  1. By biturbo Posted: 6/13/2007 9:20am PDT

    Huge BS!
    "The carmaker claims the car should reach 60mph from rest in less than four seconds and the batteries will take just ten minutes to charge."

    Why they think nobody has a clue about physics and electricity??
    To pump that much energy in 10 minutes would require a ridiculously thick and heavy cable, plus no home electrical connection can do that many Ampers :)
     
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  2. By HECTOR Posted: 6/13/2007 12:46pm PDT

    The question that comes to mind reading the article is: WHY?
     
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  3. By ultima Posted: 6/16/2007 12:41pm PDT

    Who knows, maybe they figured out a new way to charge the batteris? Have different batteries? there could be a hndred different explanations...or maybe it is bs. But still, theres a chance that they can do what they claim...The only thing that i dont get about the whole electric car thing is that even electricity is made using fossil fuels so not much is being done in the end
     
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  4. By SM Posted: 6/28/2007 2:56pm PDT

    The batteries from Altair and the motors from PML has been demonstrated in other places and are genuine. It is definitely possible to create a car like that - remains to be seen what they come up with. It will surely cost 200K+.

    And you ask why - because they think someone have enough cash to buy cars like that. Lamborghini sells - don't they?
    And don't worry, projects like this help to pay for the huge R&D cost of battery development, so that you and me can buy them cheap later.

    Cheers!
     
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  5. By Marc Posted: 3/16/2008 3:49pm PDT

    The answer in the US longterm is headed in the direction of geothermal power. 100% non-polluting, available 24 hours, the western US has more geothermal potential than is needed to power the entire US grid. That potential is currently aggressively being built out by companies. Majority of the potential is on government land and the entire permitting process is what's slowing matters down. Otherwise we would already have a lot more geothermal power. But, the states more so than the fed have realized the value and are pushing for improving their bureaucratic approval process.
     
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