Lightning Strike motorcycle is an electric sportbike with up to 200 miles of range

5 years, 8 months ago - 2 April 2019, Autoblog
Lightning Strike motorcycle is an electric sportbike with up to 200 miles of range
And the standard range is only $13,000

There's a new electric motorcycle on the block, and it's called the Lightning Strike. Made by California-based startup Lightning, this bike offers a lot of performance for the price. Its most potent form available will take you up to 321.87 km on a full charge and reach a top speed of 241.4 km. This bike is called the Carbon Edition, and Lightning prices it at $19,998. It uses a CCS charge port and is capable of getting to a full charge on a Level 3 charger in only 35 minutes. This rapid charging is possible because the bike uses a small 20 kWh battery pack.

Lightning breaks the range out by the kind of driving you're doing. It says the bike is able to go 241.4 km in highway driving and 321.87 km in exclusively city driving. Power is also impressive from the electric motor at 120 horsepower and 180 pound-feet of torque for the Carbon Edition. This is the only version that will be available at the motorcycle's launch in July this year, but standard and midrange versions will follow. The standard motorcycle starts at only $12,998, but you take a big range cut. Lightning says this one will go 70-100 miles on a full charge from its 10 kWh battery pack, half the size of the Carbon Edition. It's also less powerful at just 90 horsepower and 180 pound-feet of torque. The 15 kWh midrange costs $16,998 and will go 105-150 miles with a full charge. It has the same power as the standard-range bike.

Level 3 charging isn't supported out of the box with the standard and midrange, but can be added as a $1,500 option. The standard 6.6 kW AC charger on the Carbon Edition is also a $1,500 option for the two lesser trims. Acceleration numbers aren't provided for any of the bikes, but the standard and midrange top out at 217.26 km. Lightning claims these bikes will perform well no matter if you're on the racetrack or commuting through a busy city.

The more expensive Carbon Edition comes with a bunch of other goodies that the standard and midrange don't get. For one, it uses a plethora of carbon fiber bodywork that Lightning makes itself. It also adds Ohlins suspension, Brembo brakes and an AIM Strada racing dash that includes a lap timer and GPS data logging. There's no word on when the cheaper bikes will be available for purchase, but folks can reserve any of them right now. The Carbon Edition requires a $10,000 refundable deposit, while the standard range only requires a $500 refundable deposit. Lightning plans to produce the bikes at its production facility in San Jose, CA.

In a specs-and-price war, this bike handles the Harley-Davidson Livewire easily, since that bike is only rated for 140 miles of city range and 88 miles of highway range — and costs $29,799.

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