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Lightyear One: Solar-powered electric car revealed

The Lightyear One prototype has been unveiled at an event in Katwijk in the Netherlands.


Lightyear was founded in 2016 by members of Solar Team Eindhoven, which won the World Solar Challenge in 2013 and 2015. The company also claims to have employees who used to work for Ferrari and Tesla.

Like the solar race cars, the Lightyear One is designed for a maximum efficiency. To that end, the One features an electric motor at each wheel to minimise energy loss.

The body also has a long tail and partially covered rear wheels, presumably to reduce aerodynamic drag. The company has yet to provide power, torque and performance figures for the One.

The One is said to have a driving range of 725 kilometres under the WLTP test cycle. The car has five square metres of solar panels built into the roof and bonnet, all of which is protected by safety glass that can withstand the weight of a human.

Over the course of a year, the Lightyear One's solar panels are said to generate around 20,000km of driving range.

Using a standard 230V outlet the Lightyear is able gain 400km of range overnight. The One also has fast charging support.

According to Lex Hoefsloot, CEO and co-founder of Lightyear: “The main goal of the car is to fill in where electric cars fall short. Research has shown that range and the lack of charging options are still the top concerns that people have when considering electric cars."

Production of the Lightyear One is expected to commence in 2021. Pricing starts from €149,000 ($244,000) in the Netherlands, and includes the country's 21 per cent VAT.

Reservations are now open on the company's website with deposit pricing going from €19,000 ($31,000) up to €119,000 ($195,000) if you want to select your build slot.

Citing the high cost of new technology, Hoefsloot admitted the One will be playing in an "exclusive market". For the next generation of vehicles, Lightyear will target autonomous and shared car fleets in order to spread the cost around.

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