Lit Motors is taking motorcycle design to an entirely new planet with their newly announced C-1 electric motorcycle. Half car, half hog, the C-1 has doors, a roof and a steering wheel — none of which you’ll find on any mass production motorcycle. But what makes the C-1 truly unique is its gyroscopic technology, which keeps the C-1 upright when other bikes would go sliding disastrously across the pavement.
Located under the seat are two gyroscopes that put out 1,300 pounds of torque. This enables the 2-wheeled “transportation device,” as Lit Motors calls the C-1, to remain upright at a stop without the driver having to put a foot down, and can even keep the “bike” on its wheels in a collision.
Two 40-kilowatt in-wheel electric motors can carry the C-1 from 0 to 60 in about 7 seconds, to a top speed of 120 MPH. And it has a range of 150 to 200 miles on a single charge.
Lit Motors says it took a “human-centric” approach when designing the interior of the C-1. The result: an inside that fits one person comfortably, even for long trips, or a driver and a passenger for shorter excursions.
According to the Lit Motors website, the C-1 is a device connected on so many levels that “you can think of the C-1 as a rolling smartphone.” And with H2V, H2C, V2I, and V2V connectivity, valuable information, like traffic conditions and weather reports, can be transmitted directly to the C-1.
Based in the Bay Area, Lit Motors has devoted itself to designing “efficient, economical and ecological transportation solutions,” according to the company’s website. Lit Motors CEO Daniel Kim tells SmartPlanet that the company plans to sell the C-1, which is still in a late concept phase, starting sometime in 2013, with a price tag of $16,000 — not a bad sum considering many modern motorcycles — ones that don’t have any of the next-generation electric technology — go for around the same price, or more.
Check out SmartPlanet’s video about the C-1 below:
