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[Richard230]

I bet a lot of this information is coming from the Chinese factory that is building the Strike and some information may be lost, or distorted (or exaggerated), in translation. 

[wavelet]

I bet a lot of this information is coming from the Chinese factory that is building the Strike and some information may be lost, or distorted (or exaggerated), in translation. 

Hmmm. That would imply that factory also did all the design engineering -- if that's the case, that would make Lightning itself  just a front company for Western sales.
Also, I had the impression there were pretty much no large (in terms of engine or physical size) Chinese motorcycles, so I'm not sure they'd have the design engineers to do motorcycle design for sportbike or other demanding uses. I could be wrong on that, and such motorcycles have yet to make it out of China.

https://ultimatemotorcycling.com/2015/12/29/186258/

[Richard230]

I bet a lot of this information is coming from the Chinese factory that is building the Strike and some information may be lost, or distorted (or exaggerated), in translation. 

Hmmm. That would imply that factory also did all the design engineering -- if that's the case, that would make Lightning itself  just a front company for Western sales.
Also, I had the impression there were pretty much no large (in terms of engine or physical size) Chinese motorcycles, so I'm not sure they'd have the design engineers to do motorcycle design for sportbike or other demanding uses. I could be wrong on that, and such motorcycles have yet to make it out of China.

https://ultimatemotorcycling.com/2015/12/29/186258/

I guess we will find out eventually, but the fact that the specifications regarding the various Strike models seems kind of odd would make it strange if Lightning did all of the design work, component specifications and supplier contracts. You would think they would have that information down pat. And did you see that photo of the rather large Lightning factory building in China? It looked to me like it had the space to build the entire bike.  Which is also kind of odd as Lightning was bragging and showing photos of their new fancy "factory" located in San Jose.  (The factory building in China did not look nearly as nice.  )  I admit to being confused by what information has been leaked regarding the new Lightning models. 

[protomech]

++ Very nice!
One thing I'd add -- correct me if I'm wrong, but the claim of adding 100mi of range in 20min yields 10kWh in 20min using Lightning's  own city range number for the "standard" model (100mi city range), which gives an average (not peak) charge rate of 30kW. On a 10 kWh battery, that implies a C-rate of 3 . Isn't that rather high?

I assume they're talking about the 20 kWh model, and charging 50% in 20 minutes (1.5C). The smaller bikes presumably would charge at the same relative charge rate, so 50 miles in 20 minutes for the $13k 10 kWh model.

If the 20 kWh battery is something like 355V / 55 Ah, then even a 50 kW CCS charger limited to 100-125A should be able to max out the charge rate.

I might be wrong! If they're talking about a 2C charge for 100 highway miles in 20 minutes - fantastic. A 2C charge rate should still be reasonable with a 125A CCS charger.

This is a lower relative charge rate than Energica, 0-85% in 20 minutes @ 2.5C. Note that the older model of the Energica, 0-85% in 30 minutes @ 1.7C, will begin to thermally derate after multiple sessions (good read) - I'm curious how the 20 minute quick charges work out on a longer trip.

[oobflyer]

I wonder if Lightning is monitoring this electric motorcycle forum.
If so, - how about an update?  :-)

[Brammofan]

I wonder if Lightning is monitoring this electric motorcycle forum.
If so, - how about an update?  :-)

Well, he's doing some updating on Facebook. Some strange swingarm design going on.

https://www.facebook.com/richard.hatfield.108

[wavelet]

I wonder if Lightning is monitoring this electric motorcycle forum.
If so, - how about an update?  :-)

Well, he's doing some updating on Facebook. Some strange swingarm design going on.

https://www.facebook.com/richard.hatfield.108

Huh? That FB page hasn't been updated for 7 years. Are you thinking of a different one?

[alko]

I already lost money on the Elio. No more puting deposits on things that do not yet exist.

[HoodRichOG]

Someone who is in the FB group for Lightning said they ordered one but Lightning blamed the delay on Trump tariffs.

Not really sure wtf the tariffs have to do with it, as the parts should have come in a long time ago, and China devalued their currency to compensate.

Really suspicious now that they are blaming Trump for missed deadlines.

[dittoalex]

Kevin Barnard: That looks just like mine! Hoping to take delivery late September. I understand there are supply chain and delivery delay issues because of Trump's pointless tariffs.

[HoodRichOG]

Yeah exactly.

They keep showing the same bikes over and over (unclear if actually running or a dud). And now blaming Trump for their failure to deliver?

[togo]

Well, they didn't actually show any driving, but they did rev them on a stand.

Not clear if the "customer bike charging in the wild at a BART station" is the same "customer bike" LS218 that Richard brought to MakerFaire a couple years ago.  Both were that pale blue color, IIRC.

[HoodRichOG]

Making a motor spin a wheel on a stand is pretty easy and not very impressive.

The customer bike thing is also suspicious. You'd have to be crazy to leave a 40K bike at a BART station.

[wavelet]

Well, they didn't actually show any driving, but they did rev them on a stand.

Not clear if the "customer bike charging in the wild at a BART station" is the same "customer bike" LS218 that Richard brought to MakerFaire a couple years ago.  Both were that pale blue color, IIRC.

I've asked repeatedly, on multiple electric-bike forums & websites. I haven't found a single actual customer who has an LS-218, or anyone who knows such a person personally, or any mention of such a person other than by Hatfield.
Given how tiny a market this is, there would certainly have been some ride report / motojournalist bu someone, video or otherwise, documenting such a bike.
Until presented with significant evidence otherwise, I won't believe they've ever sold any bike (possibly excepted one in 2014).

[alko]

I agree that if there were any actually customers of the LS218, there would be a YouTube video or write-up somewhere. And Jay Leno would certainly have one.