US electric motorcycle innovators Lightning Motorcycles, is teaming up with the Brazilian company CBMM, a leading supplier of niobium products and technology. Their aim is to create an electric two-wheeler to break the current commercial motorcycle Land Speed Record (LSR).
The initiative intends to innovate and test niobium in various components of the vehicle, in order to improve its performance and, eventually, exceed the 250 mph (around 403 km/h) mark.
Niobium allows the development of more resistant components, playing a crucial role in increasing vehicle safety.
In addition, the metal can be used in the cathodes and anodes of vehicle batteries in order to obtain characteristics, such as ultra-fast charging and greater energy density, compared to technologies used in traditional lithium-ion batteries.
Lightning Motorcycles CEO and Founder, Richard Hatfield, says: “Light weight and high efficiency are essential for high-performance motorcycles, we have used some applications of niobium to achieve these goals. We are excited to work with CBMM to further innovate niobium technologies that can be translated into meaningful benefits to not just high performance electric motorcycles but to all types of vehicles.”
CBMM’s Market Development Manager, Mariana Perez de Oliveira, adds: “The idea is to demonstrate, in practice, the advantages of niobium applications, since the addition of the metal can bring numerous benefits to the project, aiming at weight reduction and greater energy efficiency, as well as contributing directly to safety.”
Silicon Valley-based Lightning Motorcycles is a technology company with 14 years of developing EV capabilities through competition on both the racetrack and in the product market.
Lightning is currently producing two platforms in the company’s facility in Hollister, California, and is preparing to expand production and extend its product line into several additional platforms to address the global market.
Keyword: Lightning Motorcycles & Brazil’s CBMM aim at Breaking Land Speed Record with Electric Two-Wheeler