Lightyear One

We’ve been watching how solar power is slowly making its way in a variety of industries. The automotive industry has been working extensively with solar in recent years, with Tesla assuming a leading role. Most people, when talking about using solar energy to power cars, refer to sourcing electricity from solar panels. But a Dutch company has a different idea. Lightyear One is the creation of five Eindhoven alumni who have already built two solar cars, Stella and Stella Lux, for the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge Cruiser Class. (Both projects are prototypes of four-seater solar cars.) The startup Lightyear announced their plans to combine onboard solar cells with an efficient battery pack and an optimized design to deliver a road-legal, four-seat electric car that can charge itself directly from sunlight. A car that can go the distance “You can think of the Lightyear One as being as an electric car redesigned from the ground up to combine the best of solar cars and electric cars,” said Lex Hoefsloot, CEO of Lightyear, in a prepared statement. “It’s a revolutionary step forward in electric mobility because we are able to combine a great look with extreme efficiency. This first model makes science fiction become reality: cars powered using just the sun.” The Lightyear One concept was unveiled in early July, touting a battery that can constantly replenish its power using the sun. In addition, the car can travel a range of up to 500 miles when fully charged. But most interestingly, the company claims that in the right sunny environment, such as Hawaii, the luxury sedan could potentially drive for months at a time between charges. This revolutionary feature solves for the notion that electric cars could be restricted to regions with reliable charging networks. The...