>> And as we know, batteries arent exactly a light wieght way to
>> store power...especially when compared to liquid fuels...

It is important to distinguish between "power" and "energy"
when you are talking about batteries. I like to use the "Slurpie
analogy" to help folks understand about power versus energy in
batteries.

The amount of juice in the cup is the energy. The size of the
straw is power. Like a Slurpie, if you draw the juice out quickly,
you will "suck air" after a time. If you let the Slurpie recover for
a minute or two, you can draw hard again, as long as there is some
juice left in the cup.

The present state-of-the-art batteries have some pretty
amazing power-to-weight ratios. This is called "specific power". The
specific power of the A123 Systems cells we use in the KillaCycle is
about 4,000 Watts/kg (at 75 C.) This works out to 11.8 HP/lb. The
next generation of these cells (not in production yet, unfortunately)
are touted to have about 6,000 W/kg (17.7 HP/lb).

Cells this powerful move the weight reduction efforts over to
the motor and controller.

Bill Dube'
http://www.KillaCycle.com