Dutch startup Lightyear was one of the big surprises at CES 2018. The company snatched the Climate Change Innovator Award with a concept vehicle that takes environmental care to the next level. Their proposal, Lightyear One, is a fully solar-powered vehicle that might launch next year #automagic
It’s no secret that more and more countries are pushing forward the legislation and infrastructure necessary to accommodate electric cars. In fact, superpower China took it one step further and started developing solar roadways (they’re not the first, just the latest to do so.) Well, now, carmakers are boldly proposing smart vehicles and fully solar-powered cars. In fact, Lightyear received the Climate Change Innovator Award for presenting a self-charging car.
The Dutch team claims that Lightyear One is capable of driving for months without charging, just drawing power directly form the sun. They’re talking about a 400-800 km range fueled by a solar paneled roof. The idea itself isn’t new; Toyota has tried its luck at a solar Prius only to discover that it was an impossible feat. It worked only in combination with a traditional battery and even then, it extended the range with just 4 miles.
In past experiments, cars with solar roofs were environmentally-friendly but lacked the power to become feasible options in today’s automotive landscape. Even so, Lightyear is optimistic; the startup had decided to launch 10 fully solar-charged cars in 2019 that should perform much better than all previous attempts:
What do you think: can Lightyear pull this off in a bit over an year?
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