Electric car with more than a dash of tvr - 700bhp!

[Gem_man]

Is it me, or does the new Lightning GT have more than a hint of TVR in the styling?
http://www.lightningcarcompany.com/
Actually, I like it.

Good to see a British company coming up with the smart ideas in the car world. Although it seems production has not started yet.

Not sure what the cost is but they taking 50k deposits.

[ColG]

I'd say they have taken front end styling cues from Marcos and rear end from Bugatti

[Nitro Cerb]

This car drove past me a couple of years ago when I was going to newbury and I couldn't catch it. I was a skyline so it did make me wonder what it was.

I always wondered what it was, weird that it would now pop up on PH!

[hollowpockets]

it has marcos bonnet and wings, tamora front splitter and grill, bugatti roof, elise bum and rear lights, cerb interior

looks good but proportions could do with a bit of a jiggle to make lines flow a bit better

Edited by hollowpockets on Saturday 11th August 11:54

[davido140]

this is the second or third time this car has reared its head, it was being produced a couple of years ago with a yank v8 powerplant by a small british car company (2 guys in a shed basically)

But I cant for the life of me remember the name of the company, they are still around making a little single seater thing I think.

The electric version is pure vapour ware, I'd love to see it fulfill all thier claims but I have a hard time believing it will.

Looks nice though.

[PVN]

Strangely enough on BBC news programme thismorning they did a short piece on the TESLA electric sports car available for 98,000 US dollars. Performance figures are quite impressive, especially acceleration, although top speed is only around 130 m.p.h. Link here www.teslamotors.com

Good looking car, especially the roadster.

[skwdenyer]

Gem_man said:

Is it me, or does the new Lightning GT have more than a hint of TVR in the styling?
http://www.lightningcarcompany.com/
Actually, I like it.

Good to see a British company coming up with the smart ideas in the car world. Although it seems production has not started yet.

Not sure what the cost is but they taking 50k deposits.

Sadly they seem to be trying to sell technology without employing technologists (or even other intelligent people) to proof-read copy. These from their website:

"Locating the batteries in the optimum position allows the Lightning to have ‘designed-in’ weight distribution and low roll centres." - are the roll centres related to the position of the fuel?

"[the batteries] are situated in the car to give the desired ultra low “centre of gravity” and optimum weight distribution both front and rear." - cue obvious Dr Evil waggling of fingers; either it is the centre of gravity or it is not...

"the savings are currently in excess of £10,000 a year." - assuming you're unlike any more than a handful of human beings and too stupid to buy an annual congestion charge

Oh and they don't seem to think that knowing the range might be handy. But apart from that...

It all seems a huge shame. This should be a great product and a great moment, but instead it all feels somehow a little shabby and ill-conceived.

[Hut49]

skwdenyer said:

Oh and they don't seem to think that knowing the range might be handy. But apart from that...

Ten minute charge for a 250 mile range - read the press release. Oh, and try cutting them a little slack before you dismiss their efforts as shabby especially if you didn't even read everything that was available on the website. Companies like these need encouragement not sarcasm.

[Gem_man]

Here here Hut49.

I for one,admire the folk behind this project. They have taken a risk and obviously have ambitious plans. - Good luck to them! Britain needs more folk like this. Or rather, it needs more folk to back and give encouragement to the visionaries that are prepared to put they neck on the block.

Sadly, its the lack of support, encouragement and financial backing that has decimated the manufacturing industry in the country. No lack of talent - They are are just all going abroad where they will get a more positive reception.

I for one look forward to plotting the progress of these guys and wish them every success in what I am sure will be a growing market.

Go for it!!

[skwdenyer]

Hut49 said:

skwdenyer said:

Oh and they don't seem to think that knowing the range might be handy. But apart from that...

Ten minute charge for a 250 mile range - read the press release. Oh, and try cutting them a little slack before you dismiss their efforts as shabby especially if you didn't even read everything that was available on the website. Companies like these need encouragement not sarcasm.

I apologise, but only insofar as the website is supposed to sell the product and having to find a press release to find a specification isn't really on.

I'm a Mechanical Engineer by training, have worked extensively with lightweight composites and started businesses. I have been championing electric sports cars for many, many years, and would love one in the right package. I am, seriously, a potential buyer of this product.

[OTOH I don't have an industrial three-phase power supply in my house, so "Ten minute charge for a 250 mile range" is the stuff of nonsense right now]

IMHO "companies like these" (judging them by their website and shots of the vehicle) need to know that issues such as the ones I mentioned only serve to put people off. I know what a roll centre is. I don't expect every car brochure to tell me about it, but I do expect any firm who attempts to use it in marketing to know what it is and talk about it sensibly.

Again IMHO, this car should be a shining beacon for a new age, a great chassis, attractive design, sold to people who understand or aspire by people who understand. Looking at this, the car has none of these things.

Now go and have a look at http://www.teslamotors.com/ to see how to approach the job of communicating about a car like this. And to anybody who says "these plucky Brits don't have the money of the US guys" then my response is "go get some". There are billions of pounds / dollars floating around in funding for green technology solutions. Financiers understand the advantage of early involvement in a game that can only get bigger. But the product and proposition and communication and marketing have to stack up.

I'm sorry if I'm being blunt, but if the prevailing attitude is one of ignoring the fact that most specialist British car manufacturers go bust because they don't market themselves properly to (a) financiers and (b) customers, and hence never produce enough product that people want to buy and recommend, then we might as well stop producing cars of any sort in the UK.

[Fume troll]

Perhaps this is the answer to all our SP6 woes!?

Imagine the lack of noise though....

Cheers,

Tom.

[Hut49]

I'm sure an internal and external sound system could be hooked up to a synthesizer that will make the car sound like whatever you want. Fezza one day, TVR the next and silent stealth-mode when you really want to make progress without drawing attention to yourself.

[BCA]

davido140 said:

this is the second or third time this car has reared its head, it was being produced a couple of years ago with a yank v8 powerplant by a small british car company (2 guys in a shed basically)

But I cant for the life of me remember the name of the company, they are still around making a little single seater thing I think.

The electric version is pure vapour ware, I'd love to see it fulfill all thier claims but I have a hard time believing it will.

Looks nice though.

IT was originally the Ronart Lightning... I last saw it outside Noble Automotive about three/four years ago. Im not a fan.