TAA DAAAA!!!

And now, the blog post you've all been waiting for...

But first, a picture of the finished LH4. (Well, OK, it isn't running yet, so it technically isn't finished, but it is finished enough to show at the Denver Auto Show.)

Pictures cannot begin to do it justice.

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A very tired, but giddily happy crew rolled the LH4 into the Colorado Convention Center this morning for the Denver Auto Show.

The car came out of the paint booth at 6 p.m. on Tuesday after intensive painting sessions by our paint team, Matt and Brian, who have the blisters to prove it.

Dan and crew finished putting the car together at 4:30 a.m. There were a few dazed faces and cups of coffee to keep everyone going, and installing the dash almost made us throw in the towel, but Ken pulled out the original CAD designs and it all came together - every seam lined up, every bolt in place.

Delivery this morning meant two trips from Loveland to Denver (about an hour each way) since the car and the LH3 chassis/drivetrain only fit in the trailer we had to buy this week - but not at the same time... So Rich and Ed left at 5:30 to take the chassis down. (Thankfully the snow was supposed to hold off until the afternoon.) They had some trouble getting in to the convention center since it was early, but they were finally allowed access to the floor. After unloading the chassis they headed back to pick up the car.

The entire crew arrived with the car right after 11 - what a thrill to see it roll off that truck!! Even if it was two hours late. At that point we only had an hour before the floor opened for the pre-show to get the car cleaned up and to get the chassis on the display stand (picture below, if you are coming to the show be sure to check it out - it is a great way to see how the engine works with the hydraulics.) We also had to get our new video set up to loop in the 52" TVs. (As soon as we get a dub of the video that we can post we will post it.) It was such a relief when everything was done.

After we finished setting up, Shawn Patrick from Denver's 9News came out for a follow up interview to their February story. Check out the official "unveiling" here.

It started snowing about 4 and so we thought attendance would be light. Not so - our booth was packed the entire night. It was energizing to talk about the car and the technologies and to see people's reaction to it. The most asked question of the night: Where is the door? Some people didn't get it even after viewing the door opening on the video. But that's OK. Some people were very negative about the car. But most people were very encouraging and we heard time and again that the government should have given small companies like ours the auto bailout money. That's a nice vote of confidence! (Wouldn't that be nice... think what we would do with even $1 billion dollars...)

It was a great start to the show.

Next goal: a driveable car for our Open House in May.

But first we have to get through four more days at the Denver Auto Show. Come see us - we're in booth 417, right next to the Mazda booth and the Army booth and their huge Hummer and prairie dog shooting game. (Our car faces the Madza Miata - which is the car we cannibalized for the chassis was back at the beginning of the year. Remember this?)

Three Days, Part I

Only three days to the Denver Auto Show. Updates:

- LH4 parts are all on the chassis and primered. Painting today and tomorrow.

- The LH3 belly pan is painted and on the chassis. We will be showing the drivetrain in the LH3 chassis at the show and our youngest team member has painted the different parts to match the coloring on our new animation of the drivetrain (animation to be posted soon). Free t-shirt to first person to correctly identify these two painted drivetrain parts... leave a comment including a way to contact you.

- The interior dash is fully molded and the mold will be in the LH4 for the show.

- The seats look awesome.

Lightning Hybrids Technical Solutions

We have recently clarified our Technical Solutions on our webpage and wanted to post them here as well.

We welcome questions and comments.

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Engine/Power Plant Technology
The 2010 and 2011 versions of the LH3 and LH4 will showcase a 90 HP Diesel/BioDiesel engine currently rated at 90 MPG in Europe, mated in parallel to a 150 HP Hydraulic motor/pump and accumulator system. The parallel system will provide 0-60 MPH in less than 6 seconds, and full highway cruising speeds, with an estimated top speed of 110 MPH.

By 2012, Lightning Hybrids will offer an exclusive new engine currently under development. The specific design details are still secret, pending US and international patent filings. Several patent filings are underway, the most significant attributable to Sam Johnson's design of an integrated hydraulic axial piston engine. Specific features of the power drive-train are as follows:
• 100 HP and 100 Lbs
• biodiesel or diesel
• true cylinder deactivation for high part load efficiency
• no transmission
• no valves, flywheel or crankshaft weights
• 150 MPG

Hydraulic Storage Technology
A small carbon fiber accumulator operating between 5000-7000 psi will provide for braking recovery energy storage, and will provide power for a full throttle launch to 60 MPH in under 6 seconds.

Vehicle Chassis
Conventional frame design techniques fabricated from chrome molybdenum tubing provide the major structural elements. By the 2012 model year, we expect to replace all metal with Carbon Fiber, to further reduce weight and increase structural stiffness.

Vehicle Shell and Aerodynamics
Lightning Hybrids has developed a unique and ultra-fast design to prototype process. By leveraging CAD and CAM systems throughout the entire design process, a large 5-axis Router, and a proprietary approach to molding and layup, LHI can go from designing to having production body parts in less than a week. This allows for ultra fast design iteration, and the ability to develop a variety of options and configurations, with a relatively small investment.

Updates

Everyone on staff (paid and volunteer) is working night and day right now. Random updates for you today:

- 20 days until the Denver Auto Show...

- We have some new images of the LH3. You can check them all out here.

- The body molds are all being finished and should be in the shop next week, which means we can assemble the car next week. We can barely contain ourselves we are so excited!

- The drivetrain is being put together. We will probably keep it out of the car for the auto show so we can use it for demonstration purposes. Can't wait to fire it up!

- We have had a ton of online media attention recently - most notably Wired and Gas2.0. There were a lot of other hits, but those were the only two that actually called for interviews and made sure all of their info was spot on. Welcome if you are coming from those blogs! We'd love your feedback and comments.

- Tomorrow morning we will be hosting one of Denver's favorite "roving reporters" Chris Parente from KWGN Channel 2. He is going to do five live spots with us - 6:40, 7:20, 7:50, 8:20 and 8:50 - it's going to be an early morning for us... We are going to show him how the LH4 body has been created and have him do some work on the router and the welder - tune in and check out our toys!

- Sign up for our enewsletter - we will send you updates and alerts as well as invitations to our open house and other events. (Sorry we can't do tours right now.)