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Lit Motors C-1

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Out of the blue, my wife sent me an email:

Subject: Lit C-1
Text: I want one!

Our household might go all electric sooner than I had anticipated!

Lucky chap, Robert! The C-1 is super-cool!

Very soon after we got married, my wife forbid me from eyeing anything on two wheels - gyro stabilization or not - given the higher accident rate for bikes around here. I do appreciate her concerns there.

Way cool. And my wife made me make the "no two wheeled powered vehicles" promise as part of my Tesla purchase. I have a motorcycle license and have never ridden a motorcycle on the road (only in a parking lot during my MSF course).
 
I didn't see a thread about this, and thought it sounded interesting.

lit-motors-builds-a-car-that-breaks-the-rules

I found this to be telling -- Tesla is now the gold standard to which others hold themselves in this space!

As for the vehicle's purchase cost, the ticket price is estimated to be close to $20,000 for early adopters, but that cost will go down significantly--to around $16,000--once the product gains sufficient market share to enable bulk manufacturing. The C-1 is slated for initial release in May 2014, and more than 250 people have already put down a deposit to buy one as soon as it's available.

Impressively, this engineering marvel doesn't come from a well-funded automaker, but from a lean San Francisco startup with just 10 employees. Kim and his staff built the prototype by hand, using its own patented technology. The total cost to produce the prototype was less than $800,000.

"We're at the same place that Tesla was at after $7 million in investment after only $780,000. We've been incredibly resourceful," says Kim.
 
Lit Motors appears to be gearing up for their 2014 production run. The latest newsletter and the previous newsletter both talk about production run in 2014 as if it is going to happen. I am on the list but still think there is likely to be delays. I work as a software developer and dates are missed so much in my business that I have a hard time believing anyone's predictions.
 
The most recent information I have seen has moved the C1 from the anticipated $16K price tag to a $24,000 mark right now. Seems that it may qualify for some US tax breaks and drop it sub $20K. But there are no promises on that (depends on your situation). Has a fairly good range (200 miles) and I am unsure if it is an on-board charger or separate unit (perhaps someone earlier in the thread has noted this).

I do see it being useful for daily commute to work, even in the most dispersed layouts (e.g. DFW, LA, HOU) and hopefully the AC will work as advertised.
 
People will always want more range. People drive 40miles a day on average and many consider electric cars commuter vehicles, yet how many pay extra for the 85kwh battery of the MS?

I could totally see myself doing roadtrips in that thing. All the leaning fun and parking advantages of a motorcycle, but no wind buffeting, insects in your teeth and rain protection, plus it is most probably considerable safer than a motorcycle in case of an accident.