Well, now, I didn’t think I could fit a 3-way into this narrow little blog, but here it is. After a few comments that “I’d rather buy a Lightning if I had $30K+ sitting around” I started to sniff around at the Lightning specs as well. Here’s the matchup:
| Mission R | Energica EGO | Lightning LS-218 |
| Motor | ||
| 120 kw liquid-cooled 3-phase AC induction | 100 kW oil-cooled PMAC | 150kw+ liquid cooled IPM 10,500 rpm motor. |
| Torque | ||
| Crank: 180 Nm (0 – 6400RPM) | 195 Nm (0 – 4700 rpm) | 228 Nm |
| Top Speed | ||
| 140+ mph (225km/h) | Limited at 149 mph (240 km/h) | 218 mph (350.8 km/h) |
| Weight | ||
| 12 kWh: 490 lbs (222kg) | 11.7 kWh – 569 lbs (258 kg) | 495 lbs (380V 12kwh battery pack) |
| 15 kWh: 510 lbs | .. | (n/a) 380V 15kwh battery pack |
| 17 kWh: 540 lbs | .. | (n/a) 380V 20kwh battery pack |
| Power Control | ||
| InfiniteDrive™ 150 kW motor controller with integrated computer controlled Vehicle Management System: Adjustable throttle mapping regenerative braking remote data acquisition system | Multi-map adaptive energy Vehicle Control Unit and power management algorithm: throttle command; chosen engine map; battery status and speed, regenerative engine braking and regenerative electrical brake, interfacing with ABS. | |
| Chassis | ||
| James Parker designed Quad-Element Frame: – Billet aluminum and chrome-moly | Frame: Tubular Trellis | |
| Front Suspension | ||
| Öhlins 43mm Inverted Fork: – Adjustment for preload, ride height, high and low speed compression and rebound, TiN surface treatment, forged aluminum radial caliper mountings | Marzocchi Ø43Mm, Adjustable Rebound And Compression Damping, Spring Preload | Öhlins FGRT inverted fork, NIX30 cartridge internals, TiN surface treatment, billet aluminum radial caliper mountings. Fully adjustable spring preload, compression and rebound damping. |
| Rear Suspension | ||
| – Single-sided billet aluminum swingarm with linear wheelbase/chain adjustment | Swingarm: Cast Aluminum | Billet aluminum swingarm with linear |
| Öhlins: Adjustment for preload, ride height, high and low speed compression and rebound | Ohlins, Adjustable Rebound And Compression Damping, Spring Preload | Öhlins TTX36 Shock and linkage system. Adjustment for preload, ride height, high and low speed compression and rebound. |
| Wheels | ||
| Marchesini forged aluminum 10-spoke | Marchesini Forged Aluminum | Marchesini forged magnesium |
| Front: 3.5″ X 17″ | Front: 3.5″ X 17″ | Front: 3.5″ x 17″ |
| Rear: 6.5″ X 17″ | Rear: 5.5″ X 17″ | Rear: 6.0″ x 17″ |
| Tires | ||
| Dunlop, Front: 120/70 ZR17, Rear: 190/60 ZR17 | Pirelli Diablo Rossoii: Front: 120/70 Zr17, Rear: 180/55 Zr17 | Front:120/70ZR17, Rear:190/55ZR17 |
| Front Brake | ||
| 2 320 mm semi-floating steel discs | Brembo, Double Floating Discs, Ø 320Mm, 4 Piston Radial Calipers | Dual Brembo 320mm disc; Brembo radial-mount forged 4-piston calipers |
| 2 Brembo M430 Monoblock Radial Caliper | ||
| Rear Brake | ||
| 245 mm stainless rotor | Brembo, Single Disc, Ø220mm, 2 Piston Caliper | 2 Brembo T-Drive 320mm Fully-Floating Rotors, 2 Brembo Brembo GP4-RX CNC Radial Calipers |
| Brembo 2 piston 34 mm rear caliper | ABS: Bosch Switchable | |
| Price | ||
| $32,499 (23,800 €) | $34,000 (25,000 €) | $38,800 (28,850 €) |
The Electric Chronicles: Power in Flux 
The Lightning has a fantastic drivetrain highlighting a custom motor case which locates the output shaft concentric with the swingarm. The motor weight is low and rearward with the modified RMS controller just inches away from it. The motor core (so far) is a parallel wound Remy HVH250, output is “tunable”. It is a thing of beauty and one of the most efficient designs I have ever seen, e-bike or not.
Hi Frank, we appreciate your wonderful description of the Lightning drivetrain. You captured it very well.
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