Lightyear One

[Frimley111R]

Apologies if this has been discussed before but couldn't see anything in the search. This company are making some BOLD claims for this car which sounds more than a little optimistic. Solar generates very little power given the amount an EV needs..

https://lightyear.one/

[Edinburger]

Bold claims indeed. Interesting. Not the bonniest car though!

[RazerSauber]

All this rubbish about not following convention but still looks like your average concept car. Seems to have hefty styling cues from the VW XL1 too. Same covered rear wheel, boomerang rear light, same looking angles on the bottom of the front bumper.

If it works, I'm all for it. Whether this is a revolution or a stepping stone, I don't know. I did always think solar power on an EV would be a good idea but I don't know if all the panels and gubbins to make it work would reduce range further than the system can compensate for.

[CharlieAlphaMike]

F20CN16 said:

The company has filed for bankruptcy. They stopped making the car a week ago (after just 1-2 months) and said they were focusing on a mass market $40k car instead of the $383k one they were selling.

https://lightyear.one/press-releases/bankruptcy-at...

I'm not sure if this is strictly true. My understanding is that they've suspended production of the Lightyear 0 in order to concentrate on the Lightyear 2 model. They're calling it a 'strategic restructuring'.

[Big Nanas]

Interesting. The Lightyear was the car that Prof Hannah Fry drove (and crashed) for her recent BBC series.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001f7y1/the...

(It was a very enjoyable series, by the way).

[Big Nanas]

Edit, duplicate sorry

[CharlieAlphaMike]

F20CN16 said:

CharlieAlphaMike said:

F20CN16 said:

The company has filed for bankruptcy. They stopped making the car a week ago (after just 1-2 months) and said they were focusing on a mass market $40k car instead of the $383k one they were selling.

https://lightyear.one/press-releases/bankruptcy-at...

I'm not sure if this is strictly true. My understanding is that they've suspended production of the Lightyear 0 in order to concentrate on the Lightyear 2 model. They're calling it a 'strategic restructuring'.

Eh? Link is to their own website, to their own statement. It says “bankruptcy”.

That bankruptcy relates to Atlas Technologies BV who were responsible for the production of the Lightyear 0, not the Lightyear 2. Atlas Technologies BV is a subsidiary of Atlas Technologies Holding BV (which holds the IP Rights) and Lightyear Layer BV. The latter two companies are not within the scope of any suspension of Atlas Technologies BV.

My understanding is (from an email received from Lightyear last week), they are waiting to 'conclude some key investments within the coming weeks' in order to 'scale up to Lightyear 2'. As they said, it's a 'strategic restructuring'.

I should add that I have no involvement with any Atlas company, Lightyear, its investors, or any of its subsidiaries.

[v8250]

F20CN16 said:

Eh? Link is to their own website, to their own statement. It says “bankruptcy”.

You need to read the second press release to get the full picture - The parent company, Atlas Technologies Holding B.V., has placed its subsidiary, Atlas Technologies B.V. [the Lightyear One operating company], into administration through the Dutch Courts https://lightyear.one/articles/lightyear-decides-t...

More importantly is their 500 miles range claim. It's based on 15,000km travelled within Amsterdam. Now, anyone who knows Amsterdam knows that 1. it has majority 30kph speed limits, and 2. 15,000kms driven exclusively around Amsterdam is not in any way real world driving.

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Map-of-average...

>>Range 1
Driving range will vary depending on driving habits, location, and season.
500 miles range is based on a 15000 kilometers annual driving in Amsterdam.<<

https://lightyear.one/lightyear-2 [ref' bottom of page]

eta: beaten to it by CharlieAlphaMike