The Netherlands based car manufacturer Lightyear says its solar electric car Lightyear 0 is now the world's 1st production-ready solar car that can drive for weeks, and as much as 7 months without charging, thanks to 5m2 integrated solar cells on its roof and 60 kWh battery.
At its global premier recently, Lightyear said actual production is scheduled for fall 2022, while test drives will be available from August 2022 and orders will start to be delivered in November 2022.
The company plans to make only 946 of these solar electric cars with each priced at €250,000.
"Electric cars are a step in the right direction, but they have a scaling problem," explained Co-founder and CEO of Lightyear Lex Hoefsloot. "There's no hiding from it, access to charging stations will not keep up with the demand for electric cars. To minimize plug-charging and maximize range, the industry's strategy, so far, has been to add batteries. That increases the carbon footprint of production and, in turn, boosts weight and the need for high-power charging stations."
The company claims Lightyear 0 can get up to 70 kms of range per day from the sun and depending on the climate and location it could yield between 6,000 kms to 11,000 kms.
This 5-seater can be charged from any electrical socket with a home charging point providing 32 km per hour while a public charging point can give 200 km per hour. Fast charging can deliver 520 km per hour speed.
To make it really environment friendly, the outer body parts of Lightyear 0 are made from reclaimed carbon and the interior from plant-based leather making it a vegan car!
Back in March 2021 when it raised $48 million to support its 1st customer deliveries the company called the car Lightyear One. It uses conductive backsheet provided by Endurans Solar (see Dutch Solar Electric Car Maker Raises $48 Million).
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