Lightyear, a company founded by former engineering students who won the World Solar Challenge in 2016, has unveiled Lightyear One, the prototype of a solar car with surprising features.
Lightyear One, a 5-seater sedan that counts on 4 independent electric motors inserted in the wheels, can be booked for the launch scheduled for 2021.
A sporty and elegant vehicle that has an amazing feature: 725km of autonomy.
It's a range that puts the car well ahead of Tesla for autonomy, counting on the help of panels present both on the roof and on the front bonnet. In fact, Lightyear One is an electric car with a photovoltaic "help".
The extent of this solar support naturally varies depending on the context. A Dutch customer, for example, will be able to count on a good 40% of energy coming from the sun. Others, according to the company, can meet 100% of the car's energy needs with solar panels alone. I believe it? More no than yes.
In numbers
Yes and no. While with fast charging Lightyear One can obtain 570km of autonomy in an hour, its solar panels can increase autonomy by "only" 12km for each hour of exposure. It is clear that it is possible to keep the car around only with solar energy, but not for long and by driving very slowly. Unless you are Aran Banjo, for those who remember the genre: but at that point with the sun you do what you want.
The panels will however be very useful in case of low battery, allowing that extra bit of autonomy to find the closest charging point.
The painful notes
Lightyear One has a starting price of € 149,000, with a monthly lease of around € 1900.
