I spent an enjoyable morning yesterday with Iain Sanderson, a long time friend and the founder and chairman of The Lightning Car Company. Iain came down to the south coast where I live and brought with him the Lightning GT development car. We went for a spin down Kingsway, the 3km road that runs alongside the seafront connecting Hove and Brighton.
3 years in development to date, the Lightning GT is based on a modified British sports car from Ronart, one of two classic British brands owned by Iain, the other being Vanwall. Iain has successfully registered the Lightning brand for all major markets, quite an achievement. The Lightning should appear in the new GREAT Britain advertising campaign, its provenance and heritage instantly accepted. It is even going to be manufactured by specialist low volume manufacturer CPP in Coventry, who are moving soon to Browns Lane, the home of Jaguar. If the Tesla Roadster borrowed some of its heritage from Lotus and Fisker has an almost Germanic styling DNA, then the Lightning oozes authentic British quality and tradition. It just feels right.
First presented at the 2008 British Motorshow, I remember that the Lightning show car immediately stood out from the crowd for it's classic British sports car design. It reminded me of a modern take on a Jaguar E Type, but with its use of advanced EV technology including nano-titanate batteries, and a body constructed from superform aluminium, there is nothing old fashioned about it. Performance is 0 - 60 mph in under 5 seconds, a top speed limited to 125 mph, a usable range of 150 miles per charge, superfast charging in just 10 minutes and a battery life of 10,000 cycles. Nearly half of the first 50 2012 Lightning GTs have already been reserved at a purchase price likely to start in the region of £175,000 per car.
Sitting in the development car you get a good idea of what the final production ready vehicle will look and feel like. The Lightning is low, long and wide, with a huge bonnet stretching out in front of you. Its stunning looks turn heads everywhere it goes, but inside the cockpit-like feel is where the fun really is. Even though the development car is not set up properly you can tell that it's fast. And smooth. I don't know how anyone would prefer to drive a conventional sports car after they have experienced the Lightning GT. Here is Iain talking about the car and here is a short video of the car on the track at Goodwood.
The Lightning GT is not going to make a huge contribution to climate change or city pollution, simply because there will never be very many on the roads. What it will do is demonstrate the joy of driving electric better than any other EV and once again the elegance and bravery that is somehow unique to British marques. The most beautiful EV in the world? Just possibly.
