From Pikes Peak to Bonneville Salt Flats, Lightning Motorcycles electric bike outpaces the combustion engine motorcycles

Vicor Powering Innovation Podcast

Podcast host David Krakauer, VP of Corporate Marketing and Channel Strategy

Special Guest: Richard Hatfield, founder and CEO of Lightning Motorcycles

Lightning Motorcycles, located in San Jose, California, is one of the leading electric motorcycle designers in the world. Richard Hatfield, founder and CEO of Lightning Motorcycles, vision for an electric version was to design the smoothest ride in the world— one that “gives you a feeling of limitless torque, with no vibration, no noise and no heat – there is almost a magical feeling to it.” And he succeeded.

“The biggest challenges we face are packaging and weight, and thermodynamics when competing with internal combustion engine (ICE) bikes,” said Hatfield. Sophisticated engineering has enabled Lightning to keep the weight of their EVs at about 200 lbs., the same as competing ICE bikes. And he has managed to keep charge times down. Lightning’s bikes and can recharge to 80 percent within 10 minutes and achieve more than 170 miles of range.

Most impressive is that Lightning has engineered a bike that set the land speed record at Bonneville Salt Flats, won the Pike Peaks challenge (14,115 feet in elevation) in Denver, and delivers a world-class riding experience! It’s the triples crown of the motorcycle world!