The world’s first solar car goes into mass production, can run for up to 7 months without charging

Startup from the Netherlands recently announced that they have started producing the world’s first solar car. Dutch mobility startup Lightyear has started building the world’s first mass-produced electric car and generates power directly from sunlight.

The company’s first prototype, the Lightyear 0, cost 250,000 euros ($259,000) and has already garnered around 150 pre-orders.

Lightyear plans to produce about 1,000 Lightyearr0 units at its Valmet Automotive Oyj facility in Finland, starting at a rate of 1 vehicle per week. The company’s CEO and co-founder, Lex Hoefsloot, told Bloomberg in an interview that by the second half of 2023, production will increase to 5 units a week.

According to Hoefsloot, the car, with curved solar panels on the roof and roof, can run for 2 months without charging in Amsterdam in the summer and up to 7 months with weather in Portugal.

Solar-powered cars have struggled to get past the prototype stage because solar panels require a large area. Mr. Hoefsloot added that raising capital in the early days was a big challenge for the company because investors did not want to pour money into such a new product.

“Right now, we are at a much more mature stage than we were then,” he said, adding that most of the investments come from the Netherlands. Lightyear received 81 million euros from a group of investors in September.

The company was founded in the Netherlands in 2016. They are also developing the Lightyear 2, their second mass production model with a starting price of around 30,000 euros. The Lightyear 2 is expected to go into production in 2025 and is already on pre-orders from car rental and sharing companies LeasePlan Corp NV and MyWheels.

Regarding the Lightyear 0, according to the manufacturer, the Lightyear 0 shape gives it a drag coefficient of 0.19 and could rival the Mercedes EQXX concept and will make it an aerodynamic family car. Most school sold when it launched. Lightyear 0 is also quite light with a weight of only 3,472 lbs (1,575 kg).

In terms of specifications, the Lightyear 0 shows a lot of promise with a range of up to 625 km according to WLTP standards. Solar panels on the roof, roof and trunk will help Lightyear 0 run up to 70km per day or 11,000km per year in ideal conditions (365 days of continuous sunshine).

The battery pack equipped on Lightyear 0 has a capacity of 60 kWh, but with fast charging technology, the car can travel a distance of up to 200km / 1 hour charging for public charging and 32km / 1 hour for slow charging at home.

According to Bloomberg