Lightyear unveils the world’s first long-range solar car

Katwijk, June 25, 2019 – Lightyear, a pioneer in clean mobility, introduced the first
long-range solar car today. The prototype was presented to a select audience of
investors, customers, partners and press at the break of dawn in the
TheaterHangaar in Katwijk, the Netherlands. “This moment represents a new era of
driving,” said Lex Hoefsloot, CEO and co-founder of Lightyear. “Two years of
dreaming, thinking and working hard have led to this milestone, which is a giant leap
towards achieving our mission of making clean mobility available to everyone.”
Lightyear was founded in 2016 by alumni of Solar Team Eindhoven, which won the
Bridgestone World Solar Challenge in 2013, 2015 and 2017. Since the launch,
Lightyear has received several awards, grants and support from key investors. “This
allowed us to develop a working prototype for the first long-range solar car in just two
years. We have already sold over a hundred vehicles. With Lightyear One, we want
to show that our technology enabled us to build one of the most sustainable cars on
the market that also offers great convenience.”

Lightyear One has been engineered coming from a radically different perspective.
Hoefsloot: “We all have a performance background and with that we focus
relentlessly on to optimize efficiency and safety”. Lightyear started from scratch,
following not convention but only the laws of physics, to purposefully design a car
that “gets the most out of every ray of sunshine”. Hoefsloot continued, “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.”

“We are solving these issues with what we call ultra-efficiency. On one hand, that will
lead to an exceptional range of 725 km (WLTP) on a relatively small battery. On the
other hand, it can charge directly from the sun because its energy consumption is
much lower, generating up to 20,000 km worth of energy per year. Moreover, all of
the charging options out there become easier to use because you get a lot more
range for the same amount of energy charged. So effectively, you charge a lot faster
from any power outlet. You can charge up to 400 km per night from ordinary 230V
sockets. That’s great for road trips because you don’t need charging infrastructure.”

● The car is constructed from high-tech materials to have the lowest weight
possible while maintaining stringent passenger safety
● Lightyear One is propelled by four independently driven wheels, so no energy
is lost in transit from the engine to the wheel
● The roof and hood are comprised of five square meters of integrated solar
cells in safety glass so strong that a fully-grown adult can walk on them
without causing dents
● In addition to solar power, Lightyear One can be charged at a (fast)charging
station or even a regular outlet

According to Hoefsloot, this is just the beginning. “Since new technology has a high
unit cost, we have to start in an exclusive market; Lightyear One is the first long-
range solar car and has staggering specifications. The next models we plan to
develop will have a significantly lower purchase price. In addition, future models will
be provided to autonomous and shared car fleets, so the purchase price can be
divided amongst a large group of users. Combined with the low operating costs of
the vehicle, we aim to provide premium mobility for a low price per kilometer. A third,
final step will be to provide truly sustainable cars that are more affordable to use than
the cost of gas you need to drive a combustion car. This will prove to be our most
important tipping point in the near future, and it will pave the way for a car fleet that is
one hundred percent sustainable.”