October 30, 2013
This solar powered electric motorcycle won the Pikes Peak Hill Climb.
A Lightning electric motorcycle built in San Carlos, Calif., beat all gas-powered competitors at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado Springs, Colo. June 30.
Rider Carlin Dunn, now three-time consecutive winner of the annual race, beat all 82 motorcycles entered. And the bike’s battery pack was charged from a 2.5-kilowatt mobile solar array from DC Solutions, powered by SMA inverters.
Dunne posted a time just over 10 minutes (10:00.694) over the 12.42-mile paved course, featuring 156 turns and climbing 4,720 feet to the 14,110- foot summit of Pikes Peak. The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is the second-oldest race in America, behind the Indianapolis 500.
Lightning claims to build the fastest production motorcycles in the world. In December the Lightning SuperBike set a land speed record for electric motorcycles — 189 mph — at El Mirage Lakebed in the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino, Calif.