A Finnish-built Lightyear Receives 150 Pre-Orders Unit

Lightyear, a Dutch mobility startup has begun the earlier announcement of the world’s first series production electric vehicle that generates power straight from sunlight this December. It may sound overly dramatic, but the news heralded is authentic as the first model has received bookings for 150 units or more.

Little info about the solar energy powered vehicle. The Lightyear 0 is a family sedan outfitted with 5 metres of solar panels capable of providing up to 70 kilometres (43 miles) of charge-free driving each day.

As CEO and co-founder Lex Hoefsloot told Bloomberg in an interview, it can drive for two months without charging in Amsterdam during the summer and up to seven months in Portugal.

The Dutch firm intends to produce approximately a thousand instances of the model at a Valmet Automotive Oyj factory in Finland, beginning with one car each week. Meanwhile, at production level, it should climb to five weeklies by the second half of next year.

Due to the vast area required for solar panels, cars driven by the sun have struggled to progress past the prototype stage. However, the situation is at a much more mature level right now.

On a different note, the Lightyear 2 is slated to go into production by 2025 and has reservations from leasing and car-sharing companies LeasePlan and MyWheels. While Lightyear 0 approximately shares a price of RM 1,165,595 (EUR 250,000), the company's second high-volume model will range its base price of roughly around RM 1.3 million (EUR 30,000).