Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative, Sports/GTs, Euro, Green, Supercars, Misc. Auto Shows
London 2008: Lightning GT EV in the flesh
Click above for high-res gallery of the Lightning GT
Remember the Lightning GT? We told you about this all-electric supercar a few months ago, and it popped up today in person at the 2008 British Motor Show in London. That officially moves it one step away from the pure vaporware it was yesterday, which is a good thing since we're eager to see the carbon fiber-bodied Lightning actually move under its own power someday. That power will be provided by the same Altairnano NanoSafe batteries used by the Phoenix SUT, though churning out the equivalent of 700bhp through four electric motors in this case. Those motors are also the same PML wheel motors used in the 640-hp electric MINI, so they should be able to handle the 700bhp Lightning. There's also regenerative braking, as well as pretty much every standard conveyance of luxury you would find in a normal supercar including air conditioning, sat nav, full leather, etc. Its maker is claiming a 4.0-second charge to 60 mph for the Lightning, but we'd also like to know what type of range they're expecting in such a positively charged coupe. Unfortunately, details like that and the Lightning GT's price are still pretty scarce, though as before, they are accepting £15,000 deposits. At least it's no longer vapor.
Gallery: Lightning GT
[Source: Lightning GT]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Vintage 4:04PM (7/22/2008)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooN9INJxxy4
New cars are NOT green.
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s13hybrid 4:26PM (7/22/2008)
I used to not mind your comments, but lately you have just been preaching. We get it, new cars aren't green, used cars aren't green, my car isnt green, your car isnt green. Nothing is green. Get over it and bring something usefull to the table.
As far as this car is conserned, I hope they can achieve this as it will be a step forward for the performance aspect of electric cars. And it looks nice.
Vintage 5:13PM (7/22/2008)
Actually you didn't look at my video.
Used cars ARE green. Keeping cars in good shape for as long as possible uses the fewest resources. THAT was the entire point of that video, so you apparently didn't watch it.
And I honestly don't care too much what you drive (apart from SUVs), but it pisses me off when people think a new car is 'green' just because it has some batteries. It isn't. Quit dreaming, and wake up to reality. New stuff has a lot of impact. If you really want to be green, drive something old and keep it from getting scrapped.
Seoultrain 6:02PM (7/22/2008)
Few people REALLY want to be green. They either want to look like they are, disillusioned into thinking they are, or are only green when it saves them money. One can argue if you'd make a significant sacrifice for the environment while none of the billions around you do, it's foolish.
The Other Bob 8:56PM (7/22/2008)
I looked at your video and much of it was factually wrong.
EJNelly 6:34PM (7/22/2008)
Those old cars are so green, California had to create carb to clean the air.
Big Rocket 7:00PM (7/22/2008)
@Vintage: YouTube videos are NOT green. Think of the extra bandwidth and extra time it takes a computer to download the megabytes of data from YouTube's servers, when you can just type the same information in plain text taking up just a few bytes or kilobytes. With many different computers taking more time to download the extra data, they are all using up more electricity than they would otherwise, which is NOT green. And when you are repeating the exact same message over and over again to the same group of Autoblog users, causing all of our computers to download the same data (plain text or otherwise) over and over again, now that becomes really NOT green.
kballs 7:28PM (7/22/2008)
People like to talk up doing green things and have hope for the future to be green (but not now, not yet, it's not really ready yet), but nobody will do it today on a wide scale (as in all parts of their life, not just one aspect like transportation) unless it's as cheap, convenient, available/accessible, and brain-dead as not being green.
Add that to the "our products are green because they use 5% less of " greenwashing, and the idea that everything about human life is unnatural and impacts the non-human-life on this planet, and it's hard to be[come] truly green. You can't live without food, and to have food you either have to farm (displacing plants and animals from the land), or you have to kill some animals for meat. You also need a place to sleep (displacing plants and animals with your bed/hut/tent/trailer/house). It's a slippery slope from there to modern life with "unneeded" things like cars and video games and their consequences (landfills, toxic waste, carbon emissions).
Lowering impact on the environment (plant and animal life) is good. Will we ever be truly green? Not without our own extinction (or leaving the earth and heading into space, where we can have impact on the wider universe instead, and leave the earth to eventually die anyway). Ultimately we are part of the life on this planet. We don't "save the earth" by trying to be green, we save ourselves, by trying not to turn the earth into a place where we can no longer survive.
Vintage 10:30AM (7/23/2008)
I'm not saying I am, I'm not saying you should be.
All I'm saying is that hybrids are NOT a positive impact. For those of you ranking my posts down, you don't seem to understand this. I'm not posting from a high horse, I'm not telling you what to do, I'm just saying I'm sick of companies pretending their products are actually 'good' for the environment, when they obviously aren't. I am just saying it like it really is, instead of letting the wealthy pretend they're better than everyone else.
Rocketboy 11:24AM (7/23/2008)
No, we're just sick of you and you copy and pasting.
Besides, here's a new green car right here:
http://flickr.com/photos/steve-brandon/2380070461/
I have not watched your cute little video because, well, why would I bother. But that is photographic evidence that you are wrong.
Wow-ed 2:30AM (7/24/2008)
My car is green..well greenish blue. But you get the idea. I'm tired of "green" I'm glad ze Germans have gone blue instead.
ALEXDB9 4:05PM (7/22/2008)
Whoa, hide the women and children.
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Alex 4:10PM (7/22/2008)
...
Fantastic looks! Reminds me of the original Marcos cars.
Awesome...
...
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Ian 4:11PM (7/22/2008)
Looks like the product of a trist between a 1970 original Marcos and a recent Jaguar. That's not a bad thing!
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Gungosa 9:54PM (7/22/2008)
am i the only one who sees an aston martin? it looks like what the tesla is to a lotus elise.
Geeky1 4:14PM (7/22/2008)
Looks great. Now it just needs a V8 and an exhaust system appropriate for producing the sounds that should accompany those looks.
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Mirko 5:01AM (7/23/2008)
Lightning used to make these with V8s before they went all-EV
Domenick Yoney 9:19AM (7/23/2008)
While it's not the same thing, it does have an engine-noise generator.
Iridium 4:24PM (7/22/2008)
With tweaks to the rear and a different side vent, that car should be the next Corvette.
Sadly though it is not. Throw a split window hatch design and Vette tailights and GM would have a winning design.
Maybe GM should just pay Lightning off and take the car.
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Toy Yoda 4:27PM (7/22/2008)
Maybe the car will have a V12 option. The company should consider it as a backup plan; considering the track record of electric vehicles car companies these days.
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