ElectricMotorcycleForum.com
General Category => Electric Motorcycle News => Topic started by: Richard230 on June 11, 2012, 04:10:09 AM
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In my newspaper today was an article by Susan Carpenter, writing for the LA Times, describing the Lit Motors C-1 (Concept 1), a fully-enclosed motorcycle prototype. It is all electric, powered by an 8 KWh battery pack, has a couple of gyros spinning at 12,000 rpm to keep the vehicle upright and balanced on its two wheels. Lit says that in production form, the vehicle will be powered by both front and rear wheels employing hub motors, with a top speed of 120 mph and a range of 220 miles per charge. The projected weight is 800 pounds and its price is claimed to be $24,000. Production is planned for early 2014. Lit Motors is a start-up company based in San Francisco.
While I applaud new and innovated electric vehicles, I think this one is not going to make meet its specifications - if it ever goes into production.
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http://litmotors.com/c-1/ (http://litmotors.com/c-1/)
Lit Motors unveils all-electric, fully enclosed motorcycle (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0m-cUxMcJw#ws)
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reminds me of the Quasar Motorcycle (ICE not electric)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasar_(motorcycle) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasar_(motorcycle))
http://feetforwardsite.co.uk/quasarworld/ (http://feetforwardsite.co.uk/quasarworld/)
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~bugivan/quasar_page.htm (http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~bugivan/quasar_page.htm)
Lochead Quasar Covered Motorcycle (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV4qVbNPX_w#ws)
Quasar No.5 feet forward motorcycle ~ Mark Crowson (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1vPvnjJP8w#)
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Lit certainly has a lot of interesting ideas, but I am not sure how many of those concepts shown in the video can be produced and marketed successively. I also note that the video and the article by the LA Times have different production dates and costs. Electric vehicles are attracting some very creative people, but putting those ideas into the market and producing a volume motor vehicle for sale is the really hard part - just ask Brammo or any of the major motorcycle manufacturers.
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Hi Richard,
BMW made the C1 (which was not a sucess) -I own one-...and also spoke about an electric model some years ago, but it did not go through...
http://www.portalscooter.com/Actualidad/BMW-C1-E-Electric-Scooter/195.html (http://www.portalscooter.com/Actualidad/BMW-C1-E-Electric-Scooter/195.html)
The one that I own is wonderful, very safe, comfortable, and can be driven with or without helmet...
A little nousy though :(
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City Bike magazine doesn't think too much of Lit Motors. In their January 2013 issue, in their "News, Clues and Rumors" column, on page 4, City Bike says that they had been getting a lot of news stories and videos forwarded to them by their readers and don't want any more. They feel that there is no way the car can go 100 mph, get 200 miles on a charge and sell for $12,500, all using an 8 kWh battery pack and a couple of 20 kW hub motors. Apparently they felt that there was a little exaggeration going on down at Lit Motors. So they sent a reporter to Lit Motor's headquarters in San Francisco to check out the progress that is being made on their two-wheel enclosed vehicle and inquire about their performance and cost claims. But he was given the bum's rush and wasn't let in the front door. They conclude with the following comments: "What this looks like is an attempt to publicize some impressive engineering innovations, pumping up the value of a start-up so it can be sold for millions (hey, why not billions?) to a larger, established company with deep pockets - the 21st-century American Dream"