Holland’s Lightyear announced this week that it has opened the waitlist for its second production model, the Lightyear 2. Coming on the heels of the highly limited, US$ 263,000 Lightyear 0, the startup will aim for a mass market audience with this US$ 40,000 follow-up model. Despite the much lower price, the Lightyear 2 will feature its predecessor’s marquee technology, a plethora of solar panels. These panels, according to the company, allow the sedan to charge three times less than a comparable electric vehicle.
Lightyear claims that thanks to the solar
panels, owners could go up to 800 km between charges in
“real-world” conditions. Although it’s unclear if that’s a WLTP-equivalent
estimate or a guess based on average daily driving and weather conditions, the
automaker claimed last year that the Lightyear 0 could regain 70 km of range per day thanks to its solar panels. It argues that owners who don’t
need to drive very frequently, might almost never need to charge their
vehicles. Thanks to its solar panels and its aerodynamic shape, the Lightyear 2
can also reduce the size of its batteries, which the company claims gives the
car the smallest energy footprint on the market, half that of a conventional
EV.
Photos of the interior, and other details
like power ratings, have not yet been shared, and it’s unclear exactly how the
automaker is cutting roughly US$ 200,000 off the price of the Lightyear 0 for its
new car. Production, though, isn’t expected to start until 2025, so plenty of
things could change between now and then. When it does go into production,
Lightyear says it will first target sales in the U.K., the EU, and the U.S.
Prices are expected to start at € 40,000 in
Europe, while Car and Driver reports that the firm is targeting a price of
under US$ 40,000 in the U.S.
The automaker says that it already has
21,000 pre-orders for the Lightyear 2 from ride-sharing partners like
LeasePlan, Arval, and others. Ultimately, though, Autocar reports that the
automaker expects to build 100,000 cars per year, once production is up and
running.