The first long-range solar car with unique performance has been unveiled. The first 100 units have already been sold, but the price remains prohibitive.
Until now there had been only a few prototypes or test runs. The idea of having a car fitted with solar panels capable of partially recharging the batteries is certainly neither new nor original. What had been missing was feasibility, or at least the possibility of achieving genuine industrialisation. It seems that Lightyear, a Dutch company, has shaken things up: on 25 June it unveiled the first long-range solar car which, according to its makers, is the most sustainable ever built.
Founded in 2016 by a team of students from Solar Team Eindhoven, winners of the World Solar Challenge in 2013, 2015 and 2017, Lightyear was able to develop a working prototype in just two years and unveil it at the dawn of summer 2019. Indeed, it was at first light on the previous Tuesday that, at TheaterHangaar in Katwijk in the Netherlands, the startup's chief executive and co-founder Lex Hoefsloot pulled the covers off the solar car. "This moment represents a new era in driving," he said during the presentation. "Two years dedicated to dreaming, thinking and working hard have led to this milestone, which is a huge step forward towards achieving our mission of making sustainable mobility accessible to everyone."
It is the performance figures presented to the public that have generated at least a healthy dose of curiosity. According to Hoefsloot himself, the solar car would have a range of 400 kilometres, which can rise to 725 kilometres thanks to what its creators call "ultra efficiency". The car is built with high-tech materials to keep weight as low as possible. It is also equipped with four independently driven wheels, so as to avoid losing energy on the way from the motor to the wheel.
The five square metres of integrated solar cells help recharge the relatively small and light battery (although its actual capacity has not been disclosed) compared with rivals on the market; it can be charged both from a standard domestic socket and from fast-charging stations. The photovoltaic array fitted is so robust "that a grown man can walk on it without causing dents," the manufacturer says. In this case, calling it a "solar car" may be a slight overstatement: the cells serve to travel at around 15 km/h when the battery is completely flat (and in full sunshine). If we look at the figures provided by the company, we can see that solar energy can extend the range by 12 km for every hour of daylight. That means that to get a "full tank" of solar energy (the stated 400 kilometres), we would need around 33 hours of daylight. More realistically, the solar cells could provide an extra thirty or so kilometres (given that an overnight charge should deliver a range of 350 kilometres).
"The car's primary goal is to bridge the gaps where electric cars fall short. Research has shown that range and the lack of charging options are still the main concerns people have when considering electric cars," said the chief executive during the presentation.
The first 100 cars have already been reserved, while those wishing to be among the first 500 owners can book the car with a deposit of €119,000. Mass production is planned from 2024. Hoefsloot is nonetheless reassuring: "The next models we plan to develop will have a significantly lower purchase price. Furthermore, future models will be supplied to autonomous and shared car fleets, so that the purchase price can be spread across a large group of users. Combined with the vehicle's low running costs, we aim to deliver premium mobility at a low price per kilometre. A third and final step will be to provide truly sustainable cars that are more affordable to run than the cost of the fuel needed to drive a combustion-engine car. This will prove to be our most important turning point in the near future and will pave the way for a vehicle fleet that is 100% sustainable."