When we last checked in on the status of the the Lightning electric supercar, the British company was in the midst of raising 15.5 million pounds ($25 million) to bring its Grand Tourer to production.
Now, it appears that Lightning is happy enough with its prototype that they’ve begun to quietly preview the two-seater to a small number of auto journalists.
What’s become apparent with the GT is that while is had the sexy curves and impressive performance stats you’d expect from a high-end maker, there are some very innovative touches that have been implemented under the hood.
The GT will be powered by lithium-titanate batteries, which are quicker charging than other lithium batteries and some analysts speculate that lithium-titanate batteries will power electric cars of the future. Lightning says that the GT will take a recharge in as little as 10 minutes (if you have a high-performance charger) and that the battery life should remain constant for up to at least 10,000 cycles.
Even more impressive is that fact that the GT’s batteries will be part of the car’s aluminum honeycomb chassis. The company says this integration will provide the car with exceptional stiffness and handling properties.
Those batteries will power a 400 horsepower twin-motor powertrain that the company says will take drivers from zero to 60 in under five seconds with a “recommended top speed” of 125 mph. With a full charge, expect a range of about 150 miles in standard specification and in excess of 225 miles with the optional range extender pack.
GT says they are still working on the car’s interior styling, but car will come with the likes of a touch screen graphic display/controller/multimedia system in central console, a multi-speaker music system with iPod and mobile phone docking stations as well as Bluetooth connectivity.
Want one? Of course you do. But here’s where it gets tricky. Lightning says it expects to have the GT ready for production by 2013, but when it is ready to ship it will be pretty tough to find; the company expects to produce a mere 250 cars per year.
If you are able to locate one, expect to shell out something in the neighborhood of $280,000. That’s a pretty exclusive neighborhood. Lightening is currently taking reservations for the GT on its website.
