On paper the mean, green Lightning has stunning performance. James Mills hopes the maker – and its customers – isn’t chasing phantoms
Hot Wheels specs
MODEL Lightning GTS
ENGINE Four magnet brushless motors
POWER 480kW (equivalent to 644bhp)
TORQUE 2,213lb ft @ 0rpm
RANGE 200 miles
RECHARGE 10 mins (three-phase), 8 hours (single)
ACCELERATION 0-60mph: 4sec
TOP SPEED 130mph (electronically limited)
PRICE £120,000
ROAD TAX BAND Exempt
VERDICT Britain’s answer to the Tesla Roadster
On the surface the Lightning GTS looks much like your regular supercar. That’s because it started life that way – as a petrol-pow-ered monster. Then, two years ago, its Peterborough-based manufacturer made a rapid switch from mean machines to green machines.
Now, hard as you might look beneath its perfectly proportioned aluminium body-work, you won’t find a hint of a cylinder, piston or turbocharger. Instead it has an emissions-free electric motor powered by 30 rechargeable cells.
Amid the gloom of the fuel crisis, the Lightning GTS brought a spark of hope when it was unveiled at the British International Motor Show last month. Last week the Lightning Car Company announced it had taken more than 100 deposits (of £2,500) for the car, the most positive sign yet that it won’t be consigned to the dust-bin of history with so many other electric cars that seemed bright ideas at the time.
The company’s engineers claim the GTS will reach 60mph in 4sec and go on to an electronically restricted top speed of 130mph. Its four 120kW Hi-Pa Drive electric motors are said to generate the equivalent of 644bhp, and are located at each wheel hub, delivering four-wheel-drive traction and eliminating the loss of power through driveshafts.
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Naturally, many will regard a sports car without the visceral sound of an internal combustion engine as the equivalent of Italy without wine and women. An artificially generated engine soundtrack can be programmed to the driver’s taste.
The company also claims to have overcome the problem of prolonged recharges – a barrier that many other electric-vehicle makers have struggled to surmount. The Lightning will recharge in 10 minutes, though there is a catch. Owners need to have a three-phase power supply (as found in garages, fuel stations and industrial premises). Conventional single-phase charging will take eight hours. That will give the car a range of 200 miles, the company says.
If true, it marks a significant breakthrough. The big three – GM, Chrysler and Ford – have been wrestling with electric-car technology for years. Ford claims that, even at its most advanced, battery technology won’t give a range much above 125 miles without a battery pack that’s unrealistically heavy or that takes an unreasonable amount of time to recharge.
Maybe that’s why the Lightning costs a wallet-frazzling £120,000. Thankfully, owners will be able to save money on running costs. The car’s fuelling costs are equivalent to 2.2p per mile, against 26.4p per mile for the petrol-powered Lightning the company has struggled to sell since 1999. Factor in road tax and congestion charge exemption, lower company car tax and zero company fuel benefit tax, and the numbers are as electrifying as the GTS’s performance.
Inside, the two-seater feels suitably grand. You sit low, with your legs stretched out, while the view down the bonnet is pure sports car, the fake power bulge and right wing dominating your vision.
Recaro competition-style seats hold you in place, and down at your feet are two beautifully finished, floor-hinged aluminium pedals – the throttle playfully marked with a battery-style “+” and the brake pedal marked “–”. The latter will in part control the car’s regenerative braking system, which reverses the electric motors and allows them to return charge to the latest generation of lithium batteries, mounted beneath the cabin area.
In this running prototype, a power gauge displays the used and remaining kWh from the electric motors, and the car’s remaining range is also displayed.
For their £120,000, buyers ought to be given more on the standard equipment list. Air-conditioning is an option, as are a tyre-pressure and temperature monitoring system, sat nav and leather trim. These are the sort of perks that should be included if the company hopes to win converts from premium manufacturers.
Some parts have come from that decidedly nonpremium car maker Vauxhall. The steering wheel and door handles jump out at you, an eyesore amid the lovingly crafted aluminium switchgear.
A funky aluminium wheel spins through the transmission’s neutral, drive and reverse modes. A button on the dashboard alters the throttle response between normal and sport, delivering energy conservation in town and athletic performance across country. And with all 2,213lb ft of torque available from a standstill, it’s no surprise that the engineers chose to equip the GTS with a traction control system, in addition to the four-wheel drive afforded by the four electric motors. It is also no surprise that they opted for racing-car-style independent double-wishbone suspension all round, ensuring superior suspension control at high speeds.
Following in the clean carbon footprint of the other electric sports car of the moment, the smaller, cheaper, American Tesla Roadster – which is essentially an electric Lotus Elise – the Lightning GTS seems the right car at the right time. Even Porsche is scrambling to develop a hybrid, while Ferrari is investigating kinetic energy retention from its Formula One racing programme, and Lamborghini’s main message at the launch of the new Gallardo LP560-4 was how much greener it was than its predecessor. It does not require the mind of Stephen Hawking to picture the future of the sports car. Let’s hope it’s not all too good to be true.
Deliveries of the Lightning will begin in autumn next year, the company claims, and it is predicting – optimistically – that it will build 500 cars a year for the world market. Could it be that the Lightning is enough to jolt the big car makers into action?
source:timesonline
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