By spring 2012, the Lightning Car Company will enter a wide scale production phase, being estimated that 250 units will reach the market annually. At a price of about £180,000, Lightning GT intends to improve luxury cars such as Aston and Bentley.

The project was launched three years ago by Sanderson, a London-based marketing entrepreneur who is confident that it will attract the £15.5 million needed to be completed. Sanderson came up with the idea of an electric GT ten years ago at a motor show, inspired by the project’s technical director, Arthur Woolstenholme.

The first phase of the project, estimated at £3.5m, includes building two Lightning GTs according to the dictates of the Technology Strategy Board. In the following phase, the company will produce a number of cars to be tested on the road and for exceptional clients.

Since its launch in 2007, the GT has been customized under the coordination of the newly-appointed CEO, Tim Martin. Instead of the initial in-wheel motors, a twin-motor, rear-drive powertrain will be used, that is to be manufactured by a German company. The car reaches 0-60mph in less than 5 seconds and can run for more than 100 miles.

greenoptimistic.com