tonybelding

Oh, now this is interesting.* As I dig through the corporate information of those websites, I learn that. . . . .

Ronart Cars Ltd was founded in 1987 by Arthur Wolstenholme and has produced "over 100 cars" since.

In 2003 Wolstenholme licensed "the famous and highly regarded historic Vanwall name" (which I have never heard of, but apparently Colin Chapman worked for Vanwall in the 1950s before forming Lotus) from Dana Corporation, who apparently had earlier gotten it in acquisition of Vandervell Bearings, and thus Vanwall Cars was formed.

Ronart and Vanwall remain joined at the hip, with Vanwall manufacturing cars for Ronart.* Both still have their own distinct websites, but both are advertising basically the same products, and both companies are operating from the same physical address.

Arthur Wolstenholme is also being quoted as a spokesman (title not provided) for Lightning Car Company.

My conclusion. . . . .

LIghtning Car is simply an outgrowth from Vanwall in much the same way that Silence is an outgrowth from Campagna.* I might hazard a guess that the only reason why Lightning is set up as a new company is for liability purposes, so if something goes badly wrong with the business it won't necessarily drag down Vanwall with it.

This is not a "scam" in the sense of somebody who's got a kit car and an impressive-looking (made up) feature list or spec sheet, and is spinning a fairy tale for investors.* Wolstenholme has obviously been in this business for a while.* On the other hand, this is not a company with the ability or the ambition to ever mass-produce cars the way Tesla are planning to do.* (Vanwall is also not a company that could ever exist in the USA, since we don't have all the regulatory exemptions for car makers with very low production numbers, as they do in the U.K.)

WarpedOne

So more in class with Venturi Fetish...

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TEG

Keep in mind that the UK is filled with many smaller "boutique" car makers. It isn't like the USA where only the big survive.

For instance, who had heard of "Ariel" until Ian used their "Atom" chassis as the basis for his Wrightspeed X1?

The UK also had loads of "microbreweries" well before they became popular in the states.
Did you know that there are "Whitestar" and "Darkstar" breweries in the UK? :

http://www.whitestarbrewery.com/
http://www.darkstarbrewing.co.uk/

vfx

Me for sure but I did meet a work-friend who I had not seen in a while and as we were riding in his Mini Cooper I asked him what his favorite car would be. ( A standard opening line for me to talk about the Tesla) He said his favorite car was the Ariel Atom and suprisingly (to me anyway) he had never heard of Ian's car...

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dsacks6

I had driven one before i heard of the X1 ;D. I first found out about it here on top gear: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaWoo82zNUA

tonybelding

Jalopnik also covered the news today. Best comment was from TomAnderson who wrote: "Is it just me or does it look like it's sucking a lemon from the front?"

Yep. Now that you mention it.

TEG

Something I just wrote to the Tesla blog:

# Brian Franz wrote on June 17th, 2007 at 11:02 pm
## How would you compare the Tesla Roadster to the Lightning GTS?
## I would love to see these two EVs head-to-head! www.lightningcarcompany.com/

Guesses:

Tesla = USA Only (For now)
Lightning = UK Only (For now)

Tesla = Rear Wheel Drive
Lightning = All Wheel Drive

Tesla = Ultra light weight spartan ultra sports cars. (More emphasis on crisp handling by way of light weight)
Lightning = “Grand Touring” luxury sports car. (More emphasis on cabin comfort)

Tesla = Batteries in mid/rear
Lightning = Batteries in the mid/front (Slightly less ideal IMHO)

Tesla = 248hp (185kW)
Lightning = ~650hp (~480kW)

With Tesla Roadster you get 200+ mile range and 0-60 in about 4 seconds.
With Lightning GT you have to pick one or the other
Lightning GTS Sport model= 0-60 in about 4, range = ??? (~130 my guess) 35kW battery pack?
Lightning GTSE extended range model = 0-60 in ??? (~5.5 my guess), range = more than 200. 70kW battery pack?

AltairNano batteries are reported to be very expensive. The Lightning models (particularly the GTSE) might cost a lot more than the Tesla roadster.

I also wonder if the PML Flightlink drive system used by Lightning (and Zap-X) is ever going to meet USA safety standards.

I suspect that the Tesla roadster is a bit further along in development. The specs on the Lightning could change as it gets closer to production.
To some degree, the success of Tesla is causing a new marketing opportunity for “boutique” vehicle manufacturers to just announce that they will add PML Flightlink drivetrain, then start taking deposits to complete the development.

WarpedOne

Somewhere I saw 300.000 USD or UK pounds as suggested price for "base" version.

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iisjsmith

Well they must be doing something with a gearbox, because on the PML Flightlink website they list the HPD40 with a maximum speed of 2000rpm.

http://www.pmlflightlink.com/motors/hipa_drive.html

Otherwise that's a mighty nice motor. 750Nm 120kW and only 25kg.

WarpedOne

Gearbox? There ain't any. I guess only posibility are some internal reduction gears, for which in hub motors there is no room.
Has anyone found internal diagram of these hub motors? It would be interesting to see what magic produces such nice numbers.

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