A future transportation option - how cool is this?

[Midpack]

Seems a little pricey at $19.9K, but Harley's can easily cost as much, and the Lit C-1 could be used 365 days/yr (unlike a HD). 200 mile range, 4-6 hour full charge (120V), top speed 100+mph, 0-60 mph <6 sec. Can carry a (very friendly) passenger.

Watch the video link below. Don't miss the gyro effect, the whole point.

Not a primary vehicle for most, but a second/commuter option at least. 4-wheel EV's with this kind of performance are prohibitely expensive so far. NEVs aren't comparable, too many roads/streets they are not allowed on.

Lit Motors

 

[Lazarus]

Interesting! If they can get the price down to about 12K as they stated I think they can sell quite a few. Safer than a motorcycle. Range good enough for commuting.

 

[yakers]

I like it, cost would be a big deal. Not sure how it will balance for turning, if they make it want to stay upright then making it turn would be the challenge. We already have a Ford Focus all electric car so not sure if this would be redundent for us. And range would be an issue but not as much as for an electric car. I like the idea.

 

[donheff]

Looks like the Bat Cycle

 

[eytonxav]

Thats pretty cool, especially the upright stability you get from those two gyroscopes. I assume it has a regular brake and gas pedal like a car.

 

[ERD50]

Interesting - if they really hit the $12K range, they might sell a good number. People in the city, commuters, etc.

The video didn't load for me for some reason (I'll try later), but the pics don't show much in the way of cargo space (yes, that passenger must be pretty svelte and friendly!). If I could fit a case of beer, and a couple grocery bags in there, it could be used for a high % of the trips I make in my car (our 'second' car), but wouldn't replace it.

But out of my 6-7,000 miles annual in our second car, if I used this for 5,000 of those miles, @ 20MPG that would eliminate 250 gallons or ~ $1,000/year. Not a good payback, even at higher miles after insurance, plus consider garage space and some electricity costs.

But at $12K, it might fit the bill for a reasonable number of people. But a lot of city people don't have ready access to an outlet in their parking space.

-ERD50

 

[samclem]

Reminds me a bit of the GM "Lean Machine" of the early 1980s. It got about 120 MPG on a small (inefficient 2-stroke) 38 HP engine, maybe it could be adapted to electric power. Lots of folks have seen it at EPCOT.

A good technical look at the vehicle.

A weather-tight shell adds a lot of practicality over a standard motorcycle, and a tad more crashworthiness. But anything that puts the rider's eyes lower than a "standard" motorcycle reduces safety a bit, as being able to see over the tops of cars or at least clearly through their rear windows to the brake lights ahead is an important advantage for the rider of a motorcycle. Also, having at least a helmet-top above the cars can aid a little in being seen. And, on a "standard" motorcycle you can squeeze between cars in an emergency, a tactic that saved my bacon on several occasions. Anything with a shell is probably too big to do that.

 

[Chuckanut]

I can imagine such a vehicle being popular in cities with small narrow roads, little parking, and wet weather. I have no idea if this vehicle will succeed, but it is good to see that such innovation is taking place. Some of it will undoubtedly stick. If I knew what innovative technology is going to work, I would invite you all to a world cruise in 2020 on my 300 foot yacht.

 

[Nodak]

Here's a GM vehicle:
General Motors' EN-V concept - we ride shotgun - YouTube

 

[Midpack]

Here's a GM vehicle

The good: [-]it would seem to fill the same niche and[/-] evidently they're hoping for a price target of $10K

The bad: target production in 2020? And a top speed of 25 mph - to me that's a show stopper, or at the very least not comparable to the Lit C-1. The C-1 has not actually been produced yet though and these alternate vehicles don't make it to production some times (Aptera for example).