Lightyear announced on Monday that it will cease production of the Lightyear 0 Solar EV. The Lightyear 0 Solar EV claims to be the world’s first production solar car. Instead, the Dutch-based company is aiming for mass-market production of his $40,000 Lightyear 2 Solar EV, due in 2025.
“To protect our vision, we had to make the decision to completely redirect our focus and resources to Lightyear 2,” the company said in a release Monday. Effectively that meant we had to stop production of the Lightyear 0.”
In doing so, the company is trying to avoid what might be called bankruptcy in some contexts. Lightyear says it will seek a “holding of payment procedures” in court in connection with its operator Atlas Technologies, which is responsible for producing Lightyear 0.
Lightyear 0 Wind Tunnel Testing
The Lightyear 0 is produced by Finland’s Valmet, and both companies announced the start of production in early December. It’s unclear how many of these vehicles were actually produced when production stopped, but Green Car Reports reached out to the company for some insight as to whether production of its handcrafted niche models has increased. .
Valmet also plans to produce Sono Sion, another solar EV in which it has strong interest, but Sono is reportedly grappling with its own financial hurdles. The Germany-based company is reportedly working on a solar fleet business as a way to stimulate cash flow.
Lightyear 0 and Lightyear’s beginnings can be traced back to the World Solar Challenge and Solar Team Eindhoven. The cars of that team won champion titles, including the Stella Vie, which we are starting to recognize today.
lightyear 0
The company said it aims to “complete several key investments” in the coming weeks. This allows the Lightyear 2 to scale up. The Lightyear 2 is a mass-produced, affordable solar EV that will reach a wider audience. North America.
Lightyear says the Lightyear 2, which it already has strong interest in, will have a smaller battery pack than the 0, but takes the same approach to “jump the grid” and rely on infrastructure-intensive DC fast charging. aims to reduce It has a built-in solar panel and focuses on aerodynamics and efficiency.
The company has not yet announced whether the Lightyear 2 will inherit the Lightyear 0’s in-wheel motor.
After today, that claim may be left to another company, but probably for a few years.