Lightning Motorcycles and CBMM bet on niobium technology to break land speed record

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Partnership aims to develop innovative applications in various components

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Feb 07, 2022, 04:00 ET

SÃO PAULO, Feb. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Boost performance and speed. This is the goal that led Lightning Motorcycles, known for being pioneers in the e-mobility industry and electric motorcycles innovators, to team up with the Brazilian company CBMM, world's leading supplier of niobium products and technology.

Signed in January, the partnership with the Silicon Valley-based company aims to leverage the applications of niobium in the mobility sector and to create an electric two-wheeler to break the current commercial motorcycle Land Speed Record (LSR). The initiative intends to innovate and test the metal in various components of the vehicle, in order to improve its performance and, eventually, exceed the 250 mph (around 403 km/h) mark.

According to CBMM's Market Development Manager, Mariana Perez de Oliveira, the partnership with Lightning Motorcycles is especially strategic, as it will serve as a platform for experimenting and testing niobium technologies in high-performance vehicles. "The idea is to demonstrate, in practice, the advantages of niobium applications, since the addition of the metal can bring numerous benefits to the project, aiming at weight reduction and greater energy efficiency, as well as contributing directly to safety." Mariana adds that the agreement is long-term, since the prototype will also serve as a concept for future projects.

"Light weight and high efficiency are essential for high-performance motorcycles, we have used some applications of niobium to achieve these goals," says Lightning Motorcycles CEO and Founder Richard Hatfield. Confident in the partnership, he states. "We are excited to work with CBMM to further innovate niobium technologies that can be translated into meaningful benefits to not just high performance electric motorcycles but to all types of vehicles".

ELECTROMOBILITY

Niobium allow a true revolution in mobility. In the steel industry, for example, the application is already a reality in the manufacture of high-strength steel. It allows the development of more resistant components, playing a crucial role in increasing vehicle safety.

In addition, the metal can enable improvements in the braking system such as reduced wear, greater durability, and better efficiency; to its use in the cathodes and anodes of vehicle batteries in order to obtain unique characteristics, such as ultra-fast charging and greater energy density, compared to technologies used in traditional lithium-ion batteries.

SOURCE CBMM