SAN FRANCISCO — Lit Motors debuted its “self-balancing” motorcycle for “sustainable transportation” at the Techcrunch DisruptSF conference today.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":528721,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"enterprise,","session":"B"}']Danny Kim, the founder, president, and chief technology officer at Lit Motors, said that the motorcycle has automated systems that balance the vehicle so that it stays upright even if it is bumped by another car. Kim said the vehicle, which has plenty of room for luggage as well as a protective car-like housing for the driver, has the utility and small size of a motorcycle, but the safety of a car.
“We’re right in between a motorcycle and a car,” Kim said. “The experience is just like driving a car. This is the future of transportation.”
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The company has raised $750,000 so far, but it takes about $11 million to crash test a car. The company has built one prototype so far, and it is raising $20 million in funding now.
The motorcycle is expected to debut in 2014 for $19,000. Kevin Rose, founder of Digg and one of the judges in the event’s startup contest, said he would place a deposit to reserve one today. The vehicle is available for preorder now.
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