Production version of 218mph electric superbike

BRITISH designer Glynn Kerr has drawn up the styling for a road-going version of Lightning Motors' electric racer – current holder of the world speed record for electric bikes.

The Lightning machine, which also races in the TTXGP series and won at Le Mans last Friday, is to be turned into a road-going bike offering the same technical specification and performance. That means it should be at least theoretically capable of something near the 215.960mph two-way world record top speed, and one-way 218.637mph peak, that the race version managed at Bonneville last year.

Add a claimed 100-mile-plus range at 'freeway speed', or more than 150 miles at a slower pace, and on paper it looks like a viable proposition. However, on paper is the only way we've seen the road version so far.

Even without a real road bike to show, Lightning says it has already secured a buyer for the first one.