· Metis Engineering has partnered with California-based Lightfighter Racing to integrate its Cell Guard battery safety sensor into the high-performance, race-winning Lightfighter v3.0 electric superbike
· The collaboration enhances battery safety and real-time monitoring of battery pack condition, enabling Lightfighter to push performance limits on track while maintaining critical safety oversight.
Bristol, UK, 20th August 2025: UK-based sensor technology specialist Metis Engineering has partnered with California’s Lightfighter Racing to advance the safety and performance of electric superbikes on the racetrack. The collaboration sees Lightfighter Racing integrate Metis Engineering’s Cell Guard battery safety sensor into its multiple race winning cutting-edge Lightfighter v3.0 electric motorcycle, which features a lithium ion battery pack – a purpose-built, race-ready machine designed to rival and outperform petrol-powered competitors.
Lightfighter Racing, founded by electric motorcycle pioneers Brian Wiseman and Ely Schless, is on a mission to challenge the long-standing dominance of internal combustion engines in motorsport and promote electric vehicles . Their all-electric Lightfighter v3.0, equipped with a high-performance lithium ion battery, competes in the American Federation of Motorcyclists (AFM) championship, racing in the fiercely competitive middleweight superbike class typically dominated by 600cc to 750cc petrol bikes such as the Yamaha R6 and Suzuki GSXR-750.
Metis Engineering CEO, Joe Holdsworth said: “We’re proud to be supporting Lightfighter Racing in their ambitious engineering programme. Motorsport is the ultimate testing ground; there’s nothing quite like it for pushing boundaries and exploring the limits of performance. Cell Guard was designed precisely for these conditions, including shock loads, providing the real-time battery health diagnostics, that traditional battery management systems often fail to detect, needed to do so safely and confidently.”
At the heart of Lightfighter’s success is a commitment to not only speed and agility, but also operational safety. The Lightfighter v3.0 is powered by a water-cooled Parker GVM 210 IPM AC motor producing 115kW (154hp), 324Nm of torque at the gearbox output, and a peak speed exceeding 11,000 rpm. This is matched with an actively air-cooled lithium-NMC battery pack operating at 383V nominal (440V peak), capable of delivering over 300A peak current while monitoring air temperature . The result is an ultra-lightweight, 181kg electric superbike with the performance credentials to race head-to-head with its petrol-powered counterparts.
Recognising the inherent thermal and safety challenges (e.g. cell venting) associated with high-performance battery systems, including the risk of thermal runaway Wismann’s team turned to Metis Engineering’s Cell Guard sensor for detecting cell venting and to provide an additional layer of real-time monitoring and fault detection.
Designed and manufactured in the UK, Cell Guard is a compact multi-parameter sensor that excels at detecting cell venting and early indicators of battery failure, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), temperature spikes, pressure increases, humidity shifts, moisture ingress, shock and impact loads, and the presence of hydrogen. These environmental parameters are crucial in identifying cell venting, the early stages of thermal runaway events, potentially catastrophic failures that conventional battery management systems often miss.
Brian Wismann, Co-Founder and CEO of Lightfighter Racing, explained: “Through our racing efforts, we realized that conventional battery monitoring systems often react too late in such a dynamic environment as motorsport to prevent damage and potential escalation from a cell issue. We needed a way to detect the earliest signs of cell distress though off-gassing, which Cell Guard has been able to provide us with. This early detection of an issue with the cell has become an important and valuable addition to our overall safety strategy, helping to prevent catastrophic battery failure .”
The integration of Cell Guard into Lightfighter’s Motec-based vehicle management and data acquisition system, used widely across professional racing, including British Superbikes, has not only enhanced safety thanks to its advanced battery health monitoring, but also provided unexpected analytical benefits. During race testing, the team observed spikes in VOC readings when overtaking petrol-powered bikes. After investigation, they discovered Cell Guard was detecting exhaust gases being drawn into the battery cooling system, demonstrating its high sensitivity and giving engineers a new window into external environmental factors affecting the motorcycle.
Since adopting Cell Guard, Lightfighter Racing has been able to operate their electric race platform with greater confidence, pushing battery performance further while maintaining critical safety oversight. The sensor has also proven to be a valuable educational tool for engineers and riders unfamiliar with electric propulsion, offering deep insights into battery behaviour and system diagnostics.
“Electric racing is inevitably going to be a larger part of all forms of motorsport in the future,” added Wismann. “We’re excited to be a part of that future and shape how to do it safely. Metis Engineering’s Cell Guard has become a critical tool in that effort.”
As electric motorsport continues its rapid evolution, partnerships like this highlight the essential role that advanced sensor technologies play in enabling safe, high-performance racing platforms. By combining Lightfighter’s race-focused innovation with Metis Engineering’s expertise in battery diagnostics, the two companies are redefining the limits of what’s possible in electric two-wheel racing.
ENDS
About Metis Engineering
Metis Engineering is a UK-based company specialising in high-performance sensors for electric vehicles and battery systems. Its flagship product, Cell Guard, is designed to detect early-stage thermal events and provide real-time data on battery health and environmental conditions. Metis sensors are trusted by leading OEMs, motorsport teams, and battery manufacturers worldwide.
www.metisengineering.com
About Cell Guard:
Metis Engineering’s Cell Guard is a compact, multi-parameter sensor designed to provide early warning of battery safety issues and deliver real-time insights into battery health. Developed and manufactured in the UK, Cell Guard addresses one of the most critical challenges in electric vehicles, motorsport, aerospace and energy storage systems: detecting the early signs of battery failure before they escalate into dangerous events such as thermal runaway.
Unlike traditional battery management systems, which often respond too late, Cell Guard continuously monitors a range of environmental and physical parameters inside the battery pack. These include volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released during early off-gassing, temperature changes, pressure build-up, humidity levels, moisture ingress, hydrogen presence, and shock or impact loads. By detecting these indicators, the sensor provides engineers and operators with an additional layer of safety oversight, enabling timely intervention and preventative measures.
The data is delivered via a CAN interface, allowing seamless integration into vehicle management and data acquisition systems. Beyond safety, Cell Guard offers valuable analytical insights into battery performance and environmental influences, helping engineers optimise design and operation. With its high sensitivity and robust design, Cell Guard is trusted by OEMs, battery manufacturers, and motorsport teams worldwide to keep pushing performance while ensuring safety remains paramount.
About Lightfighter Racing
Founded in California by Brian Wismann, Ely Schless and Nick Lambert, Lightfighter Racing is dedicated to building high-performance electric race motorcycles. The Lightfighter v3.0 is a ground-up, purpose-built electric superbike designed to compete at the highest levels of racing against petrol-powered rivals.
www.lightfighter-racing.com
