Tesla’s Lightning Competition

by Aaron Turpen in Electric Cars

We Americans have the Tesla Roadster, the electric car which does zero to sixty in four seconds. The British now have the Lightning, the electric car which does…you guessed it, zero to sixty in four seconds.

Built by the Lightning Car Company of England, this all-electric sports car has some impressive features (to go with its impressive price tag). It’s 700hp electric motor system has a top speed of over 130mph and has an innovative design.

Notice I said “system” and not “motor?” That’s because the car doesn’t have one electric motor, but four: one in each wheel. This allows for less waste because of power transfers from motor to drive train to wheels. It also allows for more efficient regenerative braking, which most intelligent electrics are using now, wherein the power used to brake the wheels to slow or stop the vehicle is also used to recharge the batteries by capturing the inertia and re-converting it back to electricity.

While you may or may not see this car in the next Bond film, don’t expect anyone besides him to be able to afford it. With a price of a whopping 120,000 British Pounds (about $240,000 American) and reservation payment of 3,500 British Pounds, you’ll have to really, really want to go electric to get one. For the rest of Britain, there’s always the G-Wiz, I guess.

Original here