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The Lightyear One is dead, long live the Lightyear 0! The Dutch electric vehicle startup has unveiled the production version of its solar car, which has been renamed Lightyear 0.
Described as the world's first production-ready solar car, the Lightyear 0 is an evolution of the Lightyear One, both in terms of design and performance.
Styling-wise, the changes include redesigned bumpers, new headlights and taillights, an illuminated badge in the (now thicker) bar connecting the headlights, new door handles, side cameras moved from the doors to the front fenders in a lower position, and new aero wheels. The aero cover for the rear wheels is a no-cost option.
The vehicle's outer body panels are made from reclaimed carbon, namely residual carbon fiber materials that would otherwise go to waste.
Inside, the changes are subtle and include the addition of two air vents on each side of the dashboard, a new center display, and the appearance of drive selector buttons on the center console. The cabin features plant-based leather, fabrics made from recycled PET bottles and wooden deco elements from sustainably-restructured rattan palm.
As far as specifications go, the Lightyear 0 shows a lot of promise. The WLTP range is listed at 625 kilometers (388 miles), while the five square-meters of double-curved solar panels are said to provide an additional 70 kilometers (44 miles) of range per day in ideal conditions—or up to 11,000 kilometers (6,835 miles) a year, assuming 365 sunny days.
In cloudy climates, the EV startup reckons the car's solar panels will produce enough electricity to cover 35 kilometers (22 miles) a day. Thanks in part to its record-breaking coefficient of drag of only 0.19, the Lightyear 0's energy use is 10.5 kWh per 100 kilometers (169 Wh per mile).
As for charging, the EV startup says the Lightyear 0 ideally would require no charging for up to two months based on an average commute of around 35 kilometers (22 miles) per day—or up to seven months in sunnier countries.
When charging is necessary, the Lightyear 0 can charge its 60 kWh battery pack at rates of up to 520 kilometers per hour (DC fast charging), 200 kilometers per hour (public charging), or 32 kilometers per hour (home charging). The solar panels recharge the battery at a maximum rate of 10 kilometers an hour.
Not mentioned above ^ is that it will use the same drivetrain set up as the Lordstown Endurance - an Elaphe sourced hub motor at each wheel (though much lower power).
Solar EV manufacturer Lightyear has announced Swedish high-performance sports car manufacturer Koenigsegg as its latest investor. Furthermore, the latter will join Lightyear in a “technology-sharing partnership” in which both automakers will share proprietary and patented information to develop ultra-efficient vehicles like the upcoming Lightyear 2.
Koenigsegg has a slightly longer list if production vehicles compared to Lightyear, but the hypercar developer has been in the game quite a bit longer too. The automaker’s first street-legal production vehicle debuted back in 2002, back when the Lightyear cofounders were all probably in middle school.
Similar to Lightyear, Koenigsegg develops and produces many of the main systems, subsystems, and components used in its vehicles in-house. Additionally, it has been adapting this strategy toward electrification in recent years. Particularly after selling a 20% stake in the company to Saab successor National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) in exchange for $171 million.
Since then, Koenigsegg has collaborated with Tesla tuner Unplugged Performance, while it continues to develop its own all-electric hypercars. Now, thanks to a fresh investment in Lightyear, Koenigsegg will look to swap notepads with the solar EV company so they can co-develop new EV technologies.
Lightyear shared the news of its latest investment and partnership in a press release this morning, sharing comments from both teams, as well as some of their plans for the future. To what extent Koenigsegg is investing in Lightyear has not been disclosed at this point.
According to Lightyear, Koenigsegg’s technologies will be used to improve the energy efficiency of the Lightyear 2 – Lightyear’s more affordable and mass-produced SEV model slated to enter production in late 2024 or early 2025. Lightyear cofounder and CEO Lex Hoefsloot spoke to what it means to have a company like Koenigsegg in its corner:
Koenigsegg is top of the food chain in the field of high-performance sports cars. I’ve always admired their blend of incredible performance, design, and sustainable technology – this partnership shows we are clearly on the right track. I’m incredibly excited to be able to tap into decades of experience in designing and building aspirational cars, and look forward to working closely with Christian and his team to drive real change in the industry together.
Naturally, Koenigsegg CEO and founder Christian Koenigsegg shared his own thoughts on the new partnership and the current automotive industry as a whole.
The automotive industry is going through a massive transition to sustainable fuel and technology. Lex and his team have developed transformative technologies, and this partnership with Lightyear will ensure our products remain on the bleeding edge, which is great news for our customers.
We know that the two automakers will collaborate to further streamline the efficiency of the upcoming Lightyear 2, but not much else at this point. Still, it’s exciting to see two relatively small EV automakers who have been developing their own exciting technologies separately, teaming up to push the performance envelope even further. We’re excited to see what may come of it.
The Lightyear 0 has a drag coefficient that's shockingly close to its name.
0.175. That just sounds like a few numbers to most of us. To the folks a Lightyear, it's a very important, very small number. As of now, that figure represents the lowest drag coefficient a car has ever achieved. More specifically, it's a record that now belongs to Lightyear. For reference, the previous record was 0.200, held by the Mercedes EQS.
Lightyear is backed by Koenigsegg, who you may have heard of. While the Swedish firm spends most of its time producing the Jesko and other 7-figure hypercars, it has also bankrolled Lightyear, whose solar-powered car we've talked about before. Now, we can call it the world's slipperiest car, and for once, not be talking about the nonexistent Cybertruck.
We should note there's a slight asterisk. Lightyear's own team validated the figure, so take this with a grain of salt. The folks at Lightyear have done nothing to earn our skepticism, it's just something to keep in mind. Regardless, Lightyear says three factors were behind the Lightyear 0's efficiency: its aerodynamics, rolling resistance, and heating system.
Obviously, the first of those is key. It's also why this and Merc's Vision EQXX look pretty similar. The wind doesn't care about intellectual property. Lightyear says that at highway speed, aero accounts for 60% of the 0's energy consumption. Lightyear outlines much of the aero testing done in the video above, so we'll leave it with aerodynamics test lead, Federico García López.
"With the wind tunnel test, we validated all our aerodynamic requirements. We took our car and tested it against realistic road conditions using the certified WLTP procedure. That test served as our validating run, as it gives a perfect representation of the car's aerodynamic capabilities," said Lopez.
Unfortunately, beyond the testing conducted, Lightyear doesn't go into great detail. We imagine there's some IP to be protected here. All we've got for you is that the design and shape of the 0 was very much inspired by nature, from the shape of landscapes to the stereotypical bird's wing.
Despite that, Lightyear says the findings from Lightyear 0 will be applied to its second model, the Lightyear 2. On top of that, WLTP certification will be run on a test track to verify the staggeringly low figure. "With Lightyear 2, we'll build upon our key learnings and innovations to achieve a mass-market car that sets new standards in efficiency. And aerodynamics will form a large part of that," said Lopez.
The first pre-production example of the Lightyear 0 has been completed, with contract manufacturer Valmet Automotive bringing the innovative sedan one step closer to reality. The partially solar-powered four-door is slated to enter production in Uusikaupunki, Finland, later this year, promising a high level of energy efficiency with a relatively small battery rated at just 60 kWh.
Valmet is now also building the assembly line for production cars that will go to customers, while its workers are being trained by Lightyear at its site in Helmond, Netherlands.
"We are immensely proud at Valmet Automotive to have completed the first pre-production Lightyear 0 solar electric vehicle. This is an important step toward the start of customer car production and making an automotive dream come true," said Pasi Rannus, SVP of manufacturing at Valmet Automotive.
Despite being planned as a relatively low-volume production car—one that other companies might have planned to build by hand—Valmet will use robots for laser welding on the assembly line, which will be located in the newest section of the manufacturer's plant in Uusikaupunki.
"The selection and training of additional car builders for the Lightyear 0 assembly has already started at the Uusikaupunki car plant," Valmet adds.
The Lightyear 0, formerly known as the Lightyear One, is promised to offer an average consumption of 141 Watt-hours per kilometer at 130 km/h (80.7 mph), which works out to 4.4 miles/kWh. The company says this level of energy efficiency will permit the sedan to cover 248 miles at 80 mph, though a WLTP range should give a better sense of real-world performance, landing at 388 miles. This will bring it close to the top range of the Tesla Model S, albeit with a much smaller battery. But the sedan isn't expected to top the Lucid Air's 520-mile range, once again owing to the latter's battery size.
What the Lightyear 0 will offer that those other two sedans won't, however, are integrated solar panels that will be able to add 6.2 miles of range per hour, though perhaps not in the middle of a Finnish winter.
The price for this innovation won't be cheap. The Lightyear 0 is expected to cost $265,000, making series production more of a technology demonstrator than a luxury rival for Lucid Motors.
Lightyear 0 was always going to present a difficult equation, offering the most aerodynamic profiles in the industry with drag coefficient of 0.175 Cd, along with a solar skin, enough to get 43.4 miles of range per day from the sun alone. But it also comes with a price tag of just over a quarter of a million dollars.
Despite this ambitious proposition to prospective EV buyers and investors alike, Lightyear 0 has entered production this week in (occasionally) sunny Finland.
"In just six years, we have gone from an idea, to a definite proof of concept. Within weeks, the first solar cars will be driving on European roads to give the world its first glimpse of clean mobility," the company said this week.
The Lightyear 0, formerly known as Lightyear One, is being produced by contract manufacturer Valmet at a rate of one car per week—not exactly a breakneck pace—but the total number of units Lightyear plans to build is just 150 cars. So this is more of a proof of concept that will be available for 150 owners to drive on the street, while Lightyear focuses on a mass-market model, due in 2025.
Powered by a 61.2-kWh battery weight only 771 pounds, and promising the highest energy density of any EV, the Lightyear 0 is set to offer a range of 625 kms (388 miles) in the WLTP cycle, with a highway range of 347 miles.
Depending on the amount of sun your locale enjoys, Lightyear says owners will be able to get between 6000 and 11,000 kilometers (3728 to 6835 miles) of range from the sun alone each year. The hood, roof, and hatch are covered in 782 IBC monocrystalline silicon solar cells, which feature a peak solar charging speed of 1.05 kW.
Lightyear claims owners will be able to get up to 11,000 kilometers of range per year from the sun, provided they live somewhere sunny. The innovative tech doesn't end there, as the Lightyear 0 also features four independently controlled in-wheel motors that produce a peak 170 hp combined.
"Four traction inverters and direct drive-in-wheel motors eliminate the need for energy draining components, such as gearbox and driveshafts. Our drivetrain is not only in pole position for the highest efficiency on the market, it also reduces the number of rotating components for much lower maintenance," the company notes.
It's easy to see how the cost of all of these technologies can add up quickly—up to $260,000 to be exact. But Lightyear isn't after volume production at the moment, rather using the innovative sedan to showcase its technologies for its next model.
06-11-2022, 07:32 AM
