Niobium powers Landspeed Record candidate Lightning Tachyon Nb

CBMM has tied up with US-based Lightning Motorcycles to develop the Tachyon Nb, an electric motorcycle that will attempt to break the land speed record for commercial motorcycles. Yogendra Pratap was one of the very few to get a close-up look at it and discover the role Niobium is going to play in the future of mobility

-  Yogendra Pratap

The 41st element in the periodic table, Niobium is a superconductor electro-mobility that is finding new uses in a range of solutions and its traditional use of making steel tougher and stronger is also finding acceptability in making frames and chassis in mobility solutions. The Brazilian company CBMM, the world's largest producer of Niobium and its derivatives has worked with Lighting Motorcycles to develop the Tachyon Nb - an electric motorcycle aimed at breaking the world land speed record for electric and subsequently for commercial motorcycles.

As I am writing this I would have been expecting to have some numbers to put down from the tests at Bonneville and hopefully to have some breaking news about a new landspeed record. Unfortunately, adverse weather conditions and unseasonal flooding at the Bonneville salt flats put brakes to the season's runs at the Bonneville salt flats and the Tachyon Nb will be put to its paces in November at the Mojave desert and later on at Bonneville when conditions are more suitable on the salt flats.

The Tachyon Nb project was aimed to improve the performance of an electric bike to break the current land speed record, and exceed 400kmph. "This daring partnership serves as a platform for testing and validating Niobium technologies that we believe could play a significant role in the mobility segment. For this collaboration, we have implemented Niobium-containing brake rotors for improved high-temperature performance, several Niobium components in the on-board charger that allow the entire system to be more reliable and efficient, and finally Niobium-containing steel tubing in the swing arm and chassis that allows us to meet the demanding strength and weight requirements of the application," says Daniel Wright, CBMM engineer and person responsible for the development of the project.