Lit Motors
| Private | |
| Industry | Transport |
| Founded | 2010 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, US |
|
Key people
|
Daniel Kim |
| Products | Electric Vehicles |
| Website | litmotors |
Lit Motors Inc. is a San Francisco-based company that designs two-wheeled vehicles, including a fully electric, gyroscopically stabilized vehicle.
Founded by Daniel K. Kim in 2010, Lit Motors designs two-wheeled vehicles with a focus on innovative and disruptive technologies. To date, they have released information about two projects: the AEV (auto-balancing electric vehicle) often referred to as the "C-1" and the Kubo cargo scooter. The inspiration for Lit Motors came to Kim in 2003, when he was nearly crushed by a chassis while manually assembling a bio-diesel Land Rover Defender 90. Kim decided to "chop a car in half" to create what is now the C-1.
Early in 2010, the company revealed a non-functioning show model of the C-1. The design vision showcased an enclosed two-wheeled vehicle self-balanced by two single-gimbal control moment gyroscopes, to be powered by lithium iron phosphate batteries. Design specifications indicated that it could hold a second passenger, though no model or pictures other than computer renderings showed more than single-passenger capacity. Computer renderings of a two passenger model indicate that the tight space would likely not be suitable for long trips, as the area behind the driver's seat is very limited, in a semi-reclined position, with legs straddling the front seat.
Similar to a motorcycle, the original C-1 design has two wheels, but uses a small steering wheel instead of handlebars. Direct-drive in-hub motors in both wheels were designed to provide a high amount of torque, stability and traction control, while allowing for the body form to be about half the size of a car. The alpha prototype shows both wheels without direct drive and only a single person capacity, indicating that the design may be undergoing changes.
Safety features were intended to include a steel unibody chassis, seat belts, airbags, and a gyroscope stability system.
*Range per charge based on a constant speed of 60 mph, coefficient of drag of 0.2, and battery capacity of 13kWh, according to the September 2016 email newsletter.
In 2011 the company announced plans for a first small production run in 2013, with the intention of selling the C-1 for $16,000. This initial price was typically referred to as $24,000, but varied depending on the state and federal tax incentives available at the time. The company began taking pre-order deposits through a tiered system priced from $250 to $10,000.
At the November 2012 Gigaom Roadmap Conference, a Lit representative that the company had "another couple years engineering works before it's really ready to go on a small scale production. By a couple, I mean a year, two years or so, and then another couple years after that to scale to a big manufacturing." In a later interview by Gigaom, Daniel Kim stated that the C-1 was still about 2 to 2.5 years from production. The May 28, 2013 interview date meant that he was expecting the C-1 to be produced around May - November 2015.
...
Wikipedia