Lightning LS-218: The 244-hp / 218-mph Motorcycle from The Accountant 2…
The Accountant 2 — aka The Accountant2 — premiered in March 2025, starring Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal as Christian and Braxton Wolff, estranged brothers who reunite to free an autistic child and other trafficking victims from a prison camp in Juarez.
Christian Wolff, autistic himself and highly trained in martial arts and combat skills, serves as a forensic accountant for criminal organizations, while his brother, Braxton, is an assassin for hire.
The film is a sequel to the original 2016 film, a so-called “sleeper hit” which grossed over $155 million worldwide, earning rave reviews for its action sequences — particularly those featuring the Indonesian martial art of pencak silat.
While the sequel hasn’t grossed quite the same revenues as the original, it’s received an overall positive response. Rotten Tomatoes currently has it listed as “Certified Fresh,” with 76% positive on the Tomatometer (critic response) and 92% on the Popcornmeter (audience response). The audience consensus is strong:
“Affleck and Bernthal make for compelling leads in The Accountant 2, a violence-packed sequel that accrues humor and heart you can take to the bank.” –RT
We enjoyed the film for what it is — a buddy action flick with great action and a preposterous plot. But what piqued our interest most was Christian Wolff’s motorcycle in the film. It’s an electric superbike from California-based company Lightning Motorcycles.
“Lightning Motorcycles was founded in 2006 with the vision to create world-class electric motorcycles that could compete with traditional internal combustion engine motorcycles and deliver superior rider experience.”
The exact model featured in The Accountant 2 is a Lightning LS-218, said to be the world’s fastest production electric motorcycle with a top speed of 218 mph. The bike’s other numbers are equally staggering: 244 horsepower, 220 foot-pounds of torque, a range of 188 highway miles, and 0-60 mph in 2 seconds flat.
The engine itself is an IPM liquid cooled 180kw+ 10,500 rpm electric motor, with a 380V 15kwh battery pack (188 miles per charge), which can be upgraded for ranges of 255 or even 335 miles. The bike sits on Öhlins suspension — FGRT inverted fork and TTX36 rear shock — with a billet aluminum swingarm, forged aluminum wheels, and Brembo brakes. Charging times are as follows:
- 12 minutes to 80% with Lightning-Fast Charge System (LFCS)
- 35 minutes to 80% with Level 3
- 120 minutes to 80% with Level 2
The performance numbers have been backed up in competition — in fact, the production model grew out of the company’s race bikes, and the LS-218 remains something of a race bike with lights.
“The LS-218 set multiple Land Speed Records, won at Le Mans, and won against the fastest gas race bikes at Pikes Peak.”
On the Bonneville Salt Flats, the LS-218 set a two-way average of 215.960 mph with a peak speed of 218.6 mph. At the 2013 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, a race-modified LS-218 ridden by the late King of the Mountain Carlin Dunne won in open competition against both gasoline and electric bikes. The Lightning team used solar panels to charge the bike, which makes the LS-218 the first racer of any kind to win a professional road race using solar power.
The obvious production comparison to the LS-218 is Kawasaki’s supercharged H2. A few years ago, Motorcyclist decided to pit the two hyperbikes in a mano-a-mano test. The H2 barely outpaced the LS-218 on the drag strip, with the two bikes running less than a hundredth of a second apart. The Kawasaki crossed the quarter-mile in 9.94 seconds at 148 mph while the Lightning took 10.05 seconds at 144 mph.
Whether you’re open to electric bikes or not, it’s pretty neat to see an American-made motorcycle from a small company rivaling the flagship “halo bike” of an R&D juggernaut like Kawasaki. What’s more, Motorcyclist went on to note how the sheer power and thrust of the Lightning excites a rare and much-needed emotional response from an electric motorcycle.
“Keeping up with the best Kawasaki has to offer is a monumental step forward for electric motorcycles… What the electric motorcycle industry needs is more emotion. It needs things that leave you at a loss for words… Motorcycling is about a connection with the machine. Whether it’s freedom or exhilaration, there has be a sense of togetherness… Pure thrust can be that conduit. Performance is a pillar of motorcycling imagination…” –Motorcyclist
With a price tag of $38,000, the LS-218 is significantly more expensive than the $28,000 H2, but also much rarer and more exotic — just the kind of machine someone like Christian Wolff might have in his garage.
The company also produces the 142-bhp Strike C and 180-bhp Strike R, which have impressive ranges of 255-293 miles. What’s more, Lightning says their bikes can be charged from 20% to 90% in just 12 minutes. Affleck himself took delivery of a Strike earlier this year, and his first ride was caught by the paparazzi.
We recommend you give The Accountant 2 a watch, and keep an eye out for the Lightning!
Follow Lightning Motorcycles
Web: lightningmotorcycle.com
Instagram: @lightningmotorcycle
Facebook: Lightning Motorcycles
I’d rather stick needles in my eyes than throw a leg over a glorified sewing machine.
Y’know, that’s word-for-word what people said when Honda started selling in the UK. Turned out well, yeah?
I’m totally addicted to the new generation of bikes, especially the electrics. Crazy to see a small American company putting out a machine that can go head-to-head with Kawasaki’s top “halo bike.” Even Motorcyclist says the Lightning has that raw power and thrill that most electrics lack. Now the big question… how do I get one of these in South Africa?