Lit C-1 motorbike can't ever fall over

Set to launch in the US in 2014, the Lit Motors electric C-1 promises to combine the efficiency and parking ease of a scooter with the stability and comfort of a car.

The fledgling electric vehicle company based in California says the C-1 uses underfloor electronic gyroscopes that spin out more than 1700 newton-metres of torque – close to the grunt of a Caterpillar D9 dozer but in centrifugal form like a spinning top – to stay upright whether it’s moving or stopped.

Lit Motors claims even a collision won’t tip it over, although their computer modelling shows it will spin out of control just as a four-wheeled vehicle could.

The C-1 is powered by two 40kW in-wheel electric motors, which are claimed to give a top speed of 200km/h and a range of more than 330km on a single charge.

Like a motorcycle, it can carry two occupants in tandem – but looking at the interior, we wouldn’t want to be the one in the back for too long.

Lit Motors says the C-1 will be like “a rolling smart phone” with connectivity to internet, traffic and weather reports.

The prototype also has glowing lights in each wheel, which should appeal to the target urban groover market.

There are few other details being released at this stage, although the price has been suggested at around the equivalent of $15,000 when it goes on sale in the US in 2014.

It’s also possible there will be a name change, as BMW already has a motorcycle called the C-1, which also departs from the norm by having a strip of roof curving over the riders.