Yes, it’s another scarily fast GT (hence the name, Lightning GT), but with a few differences. First of all, it isn’t from one of the big manufacturers such as Ferrari or Lamborghini (or Aston Martin, if you misguidedly think it looks a bit like a DB9). Second, it is powered by electricity. Third, it has 700bhp (well, the equivalent anyway).
Yes, that’s right. A car that looks sleek, sophisticated and is apparently incredibly fast – all in a carbon-fibre, Kevlar, spaceframe chassis and a 0-60 time of about 4 seconds. The fuel cell it runs on is based on 30 batteries. They are about the size of a normal car motor battery but are dubbed NanoSafe as they don’t contain the normal ‘heavy metals’ contained in a standard battery.
Amazingly, this unique (so far) power set-up means that the car can be charged in just 10 minutes to give a full range of 250 miles – staggering isn’t it? More importantly, they will have a life expectancy of 12 years before requiring the usual replacement (a bit like your TV remote).
Of course, the amazing technical prowess of this machine doesn’t just stop there. The motors (one at each wheel) give instant four-wheel drive, without the need for complex differential set ups (so less mechanically to go wrong). Regenerative braking also returns power to the battery store – which could be up to 30% in city driving.
Frankly, I like the sound of this. It really is about time we started to move toward greener motoring on a serious scale. This is just the move. The only problem however is that deposits are being taken to the tune of £15,000. This means that the car has a potential street value of £150,000. Oh my word. A little expensive? Well, with zero emissions and a vehicle you don’t buy fuel for then it should save on day-to-day expenses anyway…