Lightning LS-218 the fastest production bike in the world - oh and it's electric

[Excursion05]

Crazy expensive with a pricetag around $38,000 but super fast and decent range at up to 180 mile (that's actually pretty awesome for an electric vehicle).

Meet the electric motorcycle that's now the fastest production bike in the world

 

[kromdom]

thanks for posting, have not heard of this bike till today
YOWZA!!!!!!! 168 ft-lbs of torque

 

[Busabim]

Having driven a Tesla S electric motors are the future. The instant torque is unbeatable. with 160 foot pounds the bike will be truly amazing to ride.

BB

 

[Excursion05]

Probably not the best comparison but I have a Chevy Volt and if you put it in sport mode it is absolutely a blast! Normal mode is responsive but you can spin the tires in sport mode. Also, the power delivery is incredibly smooth. The Volt is limited to 101 mph but has no problems getting there (from what I've heard ).

Speaking of limits, how successful will this bike, or one like it, have to be before Suzuki, Kawasaki, etc up their top speed limits from the factory? Or do you think that will ever happen on traditional bikes?

 

[Rocketmn]

If that's our Future, I'm Diggin' It!

 

[dadofthree]

Awesome but expensive. Long trips might be an issue too

 

[Excursion05]

Awesome but expensive. Long trips might be an issue too

Definitely expensive but for an all electric vehicle the range is top notch at up to 180 miles. I was looking at the Lightning Motorcycles website and watching a few of their videos and it states that the bikes that won the Pikes Peak challenge could be recharged in one hour. I don't know if that's using 240 or 110 (probably 240) but the other cool thing is they have solar panels on top of their Sprinter van and all the charging was done with a solar energy setup. One of their sponsors is SMA a company that's big in solar power inverters. The Sprinter van has two solar powered charging stations (they used two bikes when practicing for Pikes Peak) and while one bike was out doing a practice run the other bike was charging up in the van with tire warmers on.

 

[FlatlandBusa]

Right now the only hold back electric cars and bikes have is the battery technology. The motors and controllers are capable of much much more.

 

[BUBBA]

I find it hard to classify this as a true "Production Bike" as the price is too high and the buyer base is too low. (ref: Y2 motorcycle that claimed the same). Very impressive and I am really looking into the "E" class bikes and want this technology to take off but not convinced of the complete package, or the reality of a cleaner carbon footprint these motors actually leave behind in their wake. You must consider the amount/type of materials required to make these and the hazardous waste they produce at end use.
Just my 2 cents, but if you want to see a real rant on this subject, look up the electric Isle Of Man video, some of those old geezers were adamant about keeping them off the Isle! I would really like to try one out though!

 

[IG.]

Nice toy, but impractical. No place to charge in the middle of a ride. It would take a lot of electricity to charge such bike, i.e. burn coal or something else, so zero emissions is misleading. Solar panels produce too little electricity to charge the bike quickly - probably a day or two, but as a supplementary source would be OK. I also don't believe a fully discharged battery can be charged in 1 hour without special set up, i.e. 220V, max current, lots of heat generated. How often the battery needs to be replaced?

Tow truck drivers make good money on towing Volts and other pure electrics? Can you guess why?

Hybrids is the only practical technology. Would be tough for bikes because of extra weight.

Cool toy.

 

[Quiksilver]

I think electric/hybrid vehicles are going to really excel in a few years. As stated in previous thread one of the major draw backs is the battery or charging system. But if this bike can get 180 miles per charge that is more than what my busa can get on a tank of gas, and I've tried many times with various driving methods to get max mpg. Very expensive? Yes. Would I sell my busa to get one? No way! Would I buy it if I had the money ? You bet. Gas is fast. Recharging is not, to the general public anyway as far as I know. I have read some automotive batteries (total electric) can get a partial recharge in around 15 min I believe? Can't remember an exact figure but 50 -70 percent sounds about right. I seen just the other day a college had constructed a vehicle that had gotten around 2000 something mpg. I'm not sure what the fuel was or how feasible or how cost effective the whole get up was. This thing was no where a street vehicle or intended to be one but it goes to show what technology and different energies can bring. I'm a gas/grease monkey lol so I'm by no means dissing petroleum but I am very interested what alternative fuel vehicles capabilities will be in 20 years...

 

[Excursion05]

Tow truck drivers make good money on towing Volts and other pure electrics? Can you guess why?

Actually the only time a Volt would ever need towed is if had a flat or the owner forgot to get gas. Volts are all electric but have a gas engine that GM terms a "range extender" never powers the wheels, just generates electricity so you can keep on rollin'.

 

[Excursion05]

The solar that they reference in their videos isn't a trickle charger, its a full battery based system like you would use in an off grid house.

I'm not sure what the charging technology is in these bikes but it would have to be something like what Tesla calls their supercharger which will do a 50% charge in 20 minutes, 80% charge in 40 minutes and 100% charge in 75 minutes. Tesla bypasses all the on board electronics and dumps juice straight into the battery so maybe it's something like that.

I also keep seeing articles about changes in battery technology that will allow vehicles to charge in as little as 15 minutes. If that technology ever shows up and is affordable the automotive world as we know it could be in for a big shift.

I agree that right now it's too expensive and fast charging stations aren't numerous enough to make it practical. However, as someone who doesn't do much touring 180 miles would take me far enough to visit all of my grown children except the daughter in Colorado and as long as I wasn't trying to make a day trip and come right back I'd be fine as long as I could get charged up over night.

As Twozerozerotwo said, I wouldn't sell my Busa for it but if I had the cash I'd sure be lining up to own one.

 

[Dscahill]

Looks good

 

[E Zurcher]

I like it but I would need to add a great big speaker so it would sound like my Busa.

 

[Excursion05]

I like it but I would need to add a great big speaker so it would sound like my Busa.

When this bike ran Pikes Peak (or maybe it was during the practice) they mounted a siren on it and ran the siren the whole way up the mountain and said they still had problems with having to slow down because people would step out in front of it.

 

[Quiksilver]

Guess loud pipes do save lives lol

 

[RedBusarider]

$38,800 (plus tax) (in CA 8.5%) ?

We could buy 3 Busa's for that amount.

I Know they are fast and quite.
But it will be along time before enough charging stations up and running (like at every rest stop etc.)

I believe that most Busa's will do at least 185 out the door, So another 30 mph or so isn't enough for me to change.
Besides were are you going to run at over 200 for any length of time?

I'll pass. They will get better and cheaper as time goes on.

 

[RedBusarider]

Tow truck drivers make good money on towing Volts and other pure electrics? Can you guess why?

Volts use gasoline when the battery dies - So I've never seen a volt needing a tow truck.
One of the very few that do. Yes, you could take a Volt across the country. But not a Leaf.

 

[chrisjp]

they had electric vehicles figured out in the 50's....