A Dutch start-up company has revealed plans to put the new car into limited production this year and while the vehicle carries a hefty price tag, it will be able to undertake charge-less driving for months on end under solar power.
Lightyear, founded in the Netherlands in 2016, is making 949 models featuring curved solar panels across the car’s bonnet and roof.
The power generated by the sun will add almost 45 miles of driving range per day, reported Bloomberg.
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Lex Hoefsloot said: “Electric cars are a step in the right direction, but they are dependent on the grid, which is still dependent on mostly fossil fuel energy.
“Adding a new source, the sun, adds certainty that you will always have that charge and you will have to charge a lot less often.”
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He was speaking at the reveal of the £215,000 Lightyear 0 model. The company states that the car allows two months of driving without charging in Amsterdam during summer and as many as seven months in Portugal.
It will be manufactured in Finland by Valmet Automotive, a company specialising in battery systems.
Cars powered by the sun haven’t usually made it beyond the prototype stage because of the large surface area required by solar panels.
Lightyear has reportedly already driven the car more than 700 kilometres (500 miles) on a single charge of a 60 kilowatt-hour battery.
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