Fully Charged recently visited Lightyear in the Netherlands, ahead of the unveiling event of the Lightyear One prototype, which was held on June 25.
Robert Llewellyn had the opportunity to speak with Lex Hoefsloot, co-founder and CEO of the company, providing interesting insights on the project.
This new BEV with around 1.25 kW of photovoltaic cells is probably one of the most mature and high-end approaches for the solar car topic. The dream goal is to drive on energy from the sun, but it's possible only when mileage is low and on in sunny weather. During the day, range can be replenished by up to 50-70 km, which is almost one tenth of the full 725 km (451 miles) of WLTP rating.
Video Description via Fully Charged on YouTube:
Lightyear One | Fully Charged
When Solar Team Eindhoven won the world solar challenge in Australia driving a 4 seater 100% solar powered car over 3,000 kilometers, no one would have believed that a handful of years later they could come up with this.
The Lightyear One. A spacious hyper efficient partially solar powered electric car.
We know the future is electric, could it be solar electric?
See also
Lightyear One specs:
- range of 725 km (451 miles) WLTP
- energy use 83 Wh/km (134 Wh/mile) WLTP
- roughly 60 kWh battery
- acceleration 0-100 km/h (62 mph) in 10 seconds
- all-wheel drive, 4 independently controlled electric motors, advanced torque vectoring
- Charging:
- solar: 12 km/h
- 3.7 kW: 35 km/h
- 22 kW (3-phase AC): 209 km/h
- 60 kW (DC): 507 km/h - Dimensions (L x W x H): 5057 x 1898 x 1426 cm
- Normal: 780 L, Extended: 1701 L, Center console: 12 L
- Over the air software updates, Companion App, Wireless key, Apple CarPlay , Android Auto
Gallery: Lightyear One prototype
