Because of Tesla, Rivian, Lucid, and, now, legacy automakers, EVs are all the trend, however solar-powered fashions are struggling.
In December 2022 the Lightyear 0 went into manufacturing, however simply over a month later the manufacturing facility line has been paused, and Lightyear is bankrupt and in administration.
Late final week the Dutch automaker stopped funds to its subsidiary Atlas Applied sciences, which is liable for creating and producing its solar-powered electrical automobiles. Atlas is now within the fingers of an administrator or curator.
In a press release the corporate stated: “Within the coming interval the curator will deal with the place of the staff and collectors in addition to assessing how the Lightyear idea could be continued.”
This all occurred simply days after after Lightyear introduced it was stopping manufacturing of the Lightyear 0 to deal with creating a smaller, extra inexpensive car, often called the Lightyear 2.
The Lightyear 0 was in-built Finland by contract producer Valmet. Launched in the course of 2022, the Lightyear 0 was a big 5m-long EV with round 5 sq. metres of photo voltaic panels situated on the roof and bonnet.
In sunny Mediterranean nations, the Lightyear 0’s panels may hoover up photo voltaic vitality to offer 70km of vary per day. Additional north in cloudier nations, such because the Netherlands, this quantity fell to round 20km.
Like an everyday EV, the Lightyear 0 could be plugged into the grid to recharge. It got here fitted with a 60kWh battery, and had a WLTP driving vary of 625km.
Whereas different EV producers have coupled their planet-saving needs to tyre-shredding efficiency, Lightyear prioritised effectivity.
Its lengthy tapered physique, partially-covered rear wheel arches, skinny tyres, and flat underbody all contributed to a coefficient of drag of simply 0.19, decrease than the 0.20 registered by probably the most environment friendly variations of the Mercedes-Benz EQS.
Though it had an electrical motor for every wheel, efficiency was leisurely with a 0-100km/h time of round 10 seconds.
With a beginning worth of €250,000 ($383,000) earlier than gross sales tax, it’s seemingly Lightyear struggled to generate sufficient orders to fulfill its manufacturing cap of 946 items per yr.
Given the corporate has simply entered administration, it’s unclear if there’s a path ahead for the corporate to develop the Lightyear 2, a smaller, extra inexpensive mannequin to be priced round €30,000 ($46,000).
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