Lightyear, a Dutch EV company, unveiled its first solar-powered electric vehicle, the Lightyear 0, at an event in the Netherlands earlier this week. The car, which Lightyear claims as “production-ready,” has a range of 388 miles (625 kilometers), with 44 miles (71 kilometers) produced solely from solar power.
Lightyear, which was founded in the Netherlands in 2016, will produce 949 of these models for $263,000 each. The Lightyear 0 is the result of its engineering team’s six years of research and development.
This car stands noteworthy because of the presence of solar panels, which is uncommon in the automobile industry. The Lightyear 0 has “patented, double curve solar panels” covering five square metres (53.8 square feet), allowing it to charge itself while driving or simply resting in the sun.
Someone with a daily commute of just about 35 kilometres may theoretically drive for months without needing to recharge the vehicle. “It would take two months in the Netherlands and up to seven months in Spain or Portugal,” Lightyear claims. Lightyear’s Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Lex Hoefsloot, says:
“Electric cars are a step in the right direction, but they are dependent on the grid, which is still dependent on mostly fossil fuel energy. Adding a new source, the sun, adds certainty that you will always have that charge and you will have to charge a lot less often.”
The Lightyear 0 has a 60kWh battery pack with four electric motors that provide 174 horsepower, allowing it to sprint from 0 to 100 km/h in ten seconds and achieve a peak speed of 160 km/h. Lightyear 0 can charge 32 km of range per hour when plugged into a standard household outlet.
To read our blog on “World’s first production-ready solar car produced by Lightyear “soon,” click here.
