at the end of June, an electric car which integrates its solar power pack into the vehicle. The car is a hatchback and includes 5mThe launch constitutes a major leap forward for the team
But it’s not the looks that are of primary importance, it’s the concept and the execution. Is it really possible to commercialise a sun-powered car? Lightyear, on the other hand, is focusing on efficiency, Schlee says, partly because the team’s core motivation is to make an impact in the fight against climate change. Schlee cut his teeth at Triz Engineering, an engineering consulting service focused on vehicle designs.
The Lightyear takes about 10 seconds to reach 100km/h. But the range difference is enormous. Standard model Teslas achieve a WLTP range of 354km, while the long-range version gets 523km. In other words, Lightyear One’s claimed range of 725km is almost double the range of the standard Tesla model. That’s impressive.
The car also weighs less than the Model 3, about 1,300kg as opposed to Tesla’s 1,600kg, or thereabouts. Schlee says there are two main advantages to having the power generator in the car. The first is efficiency, since the closer the power generator – in this case, the solar panels – is to the motor, the better.