This Is The Lightyear Zero! A Crazy Aerodynamic Electric Car That Is Covered In Solar Panels

Jordan Golson joins the Out of Spec Reviews channel for the first time to fill in for Kyle on a shoot in Spain! In this video Jordan takes us on a tour of a Lightyear Zero prototype, drives it for the first time, and shares his thoughts and experience driving this EV covered in solar panels. Jordan can be found on his KZbin channel ‪@prndlcars‬, we recommend you subscribe, and at www.jordangolson.com
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#Lightyear #Solar #EV

[@Thunderbuck]

I'm not the target market for this car, but I REALLY admire what they're doing. From the looks of this, for at least some use cases at the right time of the year, you wouldn't have to depend on much external charging at all. I really admire this engineering and I hope this car succeeds.

[@stevec2196]

This is a huge scam and it's been debunked by Dave Jones!

[@TheAndrwwJohnson]

"The most efficient car you can buy today" Immediately shows a prototype Nice

[@kyliefan7]

Yeah literally nobody can buy today!!!!

[@petertroep9085]

You can buy it. It will just nog be delivered yet;)

[@anonymoususer855]

You can buy one today, it's just that it won't be delivered until late 2022 or early 2023.

[@RWBHere]

In the interests of efficiency, the USA should allow the use of rear view cameras instead of wing mirrors. that car is amazing, and drag coefficients in that range are the way to go. Considering that most cars spend most of their life stationary, those solar panels can extend effective ranges substantially, if the vehicle is seeing sunlight. Imagine a family car which only needs plugging into a recharger every few weeks.

[@IslaSprollie]

My Honda e has rear view cameras, I have had the car for 14 months now (in the UK) and no problems at all. I'm a living squashy person just like Americans. I never understand these location based laws when the same humans are involved.

[@IslaSprollie]

@@_shreyash_anand Yes it’s a Honda e

[@TechnicalLee]

Solar on body panels doesn't provide enough power for most people, this has been studied a lot in academia. With the numbers shown on the screen this car charges at about 3 MPH in direct sun. Output goes down significantly if it's cloudy, and when the sun angle is less. Realistically I think you'd only be able to get a maximum of 20 miles per day in a very sunny place like Arizona. That's not enough range per day for most Americans, so you'll still have to charge it normally unless you're retired and only drive in town. The extra expense of the solar panels isn't really worth it, so it's a niche product for feel-good ecoists. I would buy the car without panels to save money, the aerodynamics are desirable.

[@martinostlund1879]

@@TechnicalLee but Americans is a very small part of all people, others often drive far shorter on a normal day. 5km of range added daily would be fine and enough for me.

[@ben3989]

@@TechnicalLee I agree. The cost be if it just isn’t there.

[@thetravellingpicker5096]

I like the design. Very innovative. The electric transportation industry is the new gold rush.

[@dearbulls]

That EV charging ad just made my day. Dead dinosaurs come to save? 🦖 🦕

[@Dino.808]

This is what I invisioned my first EV car I would buy to look like.

[@sibusisondaba4354]

This would be perfect for me in South Africa. We have almost no charging ports, and plenty of sun both during summer and winter. I've been waiting for something like this

[@oligi2002]

Here in Nigeria, this type of tech will be a game changer but we are set back by ourselves. We are so far back in this ev race that its quite embarrassing for a continent with so much sunlight, can't produce a solar panel, let alone research better ones. Such a pity

[@jimcabezola3051]

I agree with you. Nigeria and the whole continent are places the sun always shines. Now we know where solar panels, solar energy, and cars like the Lights peed must be built. Africa needs to take the lead from the rest of the world.

[@petertraveller6421]

I have heard about a guy from Nigeria, who wants to donate 100 million dollars, just have to pay small transfer fee. He can buy this car for everyone in Nigeria.

[@2.3_44XD--]

I'm from canary islands sounds familiar, lots of sun and wind and short distances but the majority still prefer to buy fuel cars. And we don't produce anything everything import

[@marktuyet]

Incredible vehicle . This reminds me of the cars of the future that were showcased at the 1964 New York Worlds Fair . I wish them much success .

[@parasjanpara]

Super car, I am spreading words about Lightyear Zero in India. It's a really really great sustainable mobility product which has no competition yet.

[@artsmith103]

$250K until model 2 comes out in a couple years.

[@comickebs748]

I really want this Stateside. PLEASE put San Diego CA on the list of US cities for pre-ordering!

[@howertingsyaboya3789]

The indicated price is quite high - it might be a lot cheaper for you to install a lot of static PV panels and storage

[@victorsvoice7978]

One day the solar-car will be a reality.

[@rzu7120]

Or, spend $20k to put solar panels on the roof of your house, and drive whatever EV you want.

[@Alex-mu3gf]

You need first to buy a house... Then calculate the 20k vs life span of the solar panels and profit from the electricity it generates and then check if you even gain anything from free electricity after returning the "investment" 20k. After lifespan is over, don't forget to add additional cost for garbage.

[@0hypnotoad0]

@@Alex-mu3gf The warrantied lifespan of solar panels is 30 years, the practical operational lifespan is over 50 years. There will be a bit of output fade over time, but you can just add a couple more panels to compensate.

[@rizocars6115]

@@Alex-mu3gf you have no business buying any of these cars if you don't have a house. Priorities

[@PhaseSkater]

@@Alex-mu3gf house goes up in value though when you buy it, cars go down in value. so yeah, buy a house and use solar and youll pretty much drive your ev for free, and profit money over time

[@serwinzzalot9989]

Kids in the future will be laughing when they see this video. "You guys drove with expensive panels for hood and glass protection?" Why not just take your leased battery and use the public car or trucks? They will laugh that we bought our own cars instead if using the public transports. and why not just use the air drone transport?

[@jigold22571]

Thank You.

[@bobhilder1469]

There are 782 solar CELLS (not "panels"). A "panel" or "module" is composed of multiple cells.

[@carholic-sz3qv]

I think you were trying to say solar cells instead of panels right!!!

[@user-yg6nq9lw5g]

bruh

[@theprada2126]

Wow Tech is soaring to a new level Great job guys

[@MBergyman]

Thanks for covering this! Definitely a rough mule, but really interesting. I will be very interested to see how the hub motors work out in real life. I don't really think there is anything wrong with hub motors if they are sized appropriately for the job, but there is a lot of whining on the internet about hub motors, most of which does not seem to be grounded in any reality.

[@roysimonetti4845]

Truly an Ugly vehicle in My Opinon.

[@Mia-Taylor-Love-Live]

Hub motors are trash compared to geared motors. Neither does it have good efficiency nor does it have good torque. Besides, every impact and rattles are directly transferred to the motor which is also directly exposed to direct dirt and water , there is no efficient way of cooling the motor either,hence reducing the life of motor

[@grahamstefaan]

Aptera and this company should join so both don't die. We need Aprera to become real.

[@chidorirasenganz]

Aptera is most likely going to be alright

[@nathanwolf5547]

So stoked to see this tech being trialed. As with the Aptera, I makes sense when car spend so much time just sitting.

[@keithv3767]

I think this one will be in a totally different price class than the Aptera. I love there are two realistic solar powered cars on the way.

[@peterslegers6121]

@@keithv3767 This expensive model is a gateway to producing reasonably priced cars. The technology they've developed and tested will also be used in their next model, which is planned to roll out of the factory at the end of 2024 or in 2025. They've already got 10,000 pre-orders for that cheaper version.

[@lucarain2936]

The idea at all that someone out there will have something like this as their first vehicle.. those people got it made.

[@artsmith103]

Great real-life info. Think of the solar as practical battery/range extender. Not as a commuting energy method. It favors people with shorter commutes. For example, if you drive 40 miles/day in average sun. The combined range is 600 miles in 15 days compared to 360 miles in 9 days via only the battery. I used 4.75 peak equiv hrs per day of 0.550 kW. Exceptionally bright places like Phoenix and San Diego will have close to 5.5 pk equiv hrs/day but for most of the country ~4.75 is a good estimate.

[@ringsofdeath]

I wish he didn't call it a Solar Car. It's a BEV with solar augmentation. For long highway driving the solar is only going to help a tiny bit, but for slow short Euro inner city driving the solar could easily keep up. If you only drive 20km a day in Amsterdam temperatures you might *never* need to plug it in.

[@heikorudi6105]

who the hell drives a car in amsterdam?

[@lesliefranklin1870]

@@heikorudi6105 When you step outside a "cafe" and exclaim "dude, where's my bike?" 😂

[@nickn2261]

This thing is mind blowing. That flush under body would be great to keep snow build up off

[@ronmichaelgazmin5646]

Amazing. The solution for rising fuel. Congrats from Philippines.

[@chinwansang510]

The revolution of Netherlands!

[@williamwiese9963]

Aptera claims to have the most efficient EV, I agree with them, they even have 700 watts of panels on the body..

[@jackoneil3933]

One might question if a wheel rim is damaged does the entire wheel hub motor have to be replaced, and if so what the cost would be?

[@kubi0461]

It would seem to me to be more cost effective to install solar at home where you can use it for all of your electricity needs. Then instead of spending the likely $10k it cost to fit the solar panels on this car, increase the battery capacity for more range. But then at the price of thing, it's likely intended for people who would probably already have full solar at home anyway.

[@chadpurser]

@@rcg8892 You would be waiting a long time! It would take days to charge any meaningful amount. I calculated it would take 20 days for a full charge, assuming 5hr of full sun a day.

[@Boomtendo4tw]

many ppl do not have a home to charge at. This would help many ppl who have to park outside on the street.

[@masterrpgs]

This is a $200,000 car. Whoever buys this is more likely to own multiple homes. You could buy a Model 3 and install a solar system to power everything and still have money left over.

[@sunsetlights100]

@@masterrpgs prices should come down over time & features being adopted by other brands in cheaper package

[@robertt3811]

The whole point isn't larger battery, longer range; everyone does that. The goal is a super light car that can actually do daily commutes without cable charging for 2-10 months, even in northern Europe. You're basically buying a science experiment car (solar cars they race in AUS) that you can drive your family in. Future is the same tech in a sub $50k car

[@kathyfann]

It’s so wonderful to see what is going on in different places and I really like the Solar effort I also really like the Aptera. It too uses a lot of solar and with the correct battery the Aptera can go 1,000. Miles now.

[@artsmith103]

Aptera claims 10 miles/kWh. They need to prove that as in this video.

[@LearningFast]

0:25 “This is the most efficient EV you can BUY today”. Also “this is a prototype” that isn’t for sale yet.

[@57z]

Right?? Between this car that you can't buy today and Aptera (another EV you can't buy today) my money is on Aptera being a car I can someday buy for a reasonable price. Edit: the range at highway speed is impressive. Especially with only a 60kW battery

[@tommieperenboom603]

You can buy it.. ships December (if you were one of the first buyers)

[@jamespaul2587]

@@tommieperenboom603 preorders are not the same as buying, no one is truly buying this until at least December 2022 which likely means 2023 delivery. It's like saying people bought the new Tesla Roadster. Even those that paid in full for the founders series haven't really bought anything yet as no cars have been delivered

[@TheRockHardKeg]

This thing is so fucking cool

[@joeb4294]

The NHTSA is evaluating side view cameras - hopefully they will approve them this year.

[@rctezluh42069]

Oh wait i can't see out the back? well darn. Upvoted!!!

[@bemoremad]

Cool car concept, and I'm curious what their 'affordable' model will look like in the future. Not holding my breath on that though. 1 major issue I see here though is that having motors in the wheels will mean requiring a tow if you get a flat. Actually, to begin with, I doubt any tire shop will actually have this tire in stock, and it remains to be seen if the tire would need to be replaced by a specialist considering the unconventional wheel and custom tire.

[@pauld6967]

I think this an interesting car and the idea of rooftop/body solar panels needs to be incorporated with all PHEVs and EVs. I hope this car makes it to production and eventually can be sold in the U.S.

[@Whats-DanT-Up-To]

Adding solar to most typical PHEV or existing EV are not very useful as they are not designed to be very efficient. All those panels will only get you 5 may be 10 miles a day. The LightYear and the Aptera are designed to be extremely efficient as you can tell from the drag coefficient of 1.9 for the Lightyear and 1.3 for the Aptera whereas most cars are in the 2.xx range. Both of these cars also uses in-wheel motors and the Aptera will also get you about 40 miles of solar range with projected efficiency of about 100W/mile (not sure if it's highway or EPA projected). If you don't mind a 2 seater, check out the Aptera which will be build in San Diego. Message me if you have any questions re Aptera. I don't work for Aptera, I just loved their philosophy and put down a deposit for 2

[@pauld6967]

@@Whats-DanT-Up-To I understand that it wouldn't be "as efficient." However, I would welcome even +5 miles as that would change my one-way commute to/from the office from being "can almost make it the whole way on electric" to "I made it the whole way on electric with a tiny bit to spare." :-) P.S. I am considering the Aptera as something that I may want to get once it has a couple of production years under its belt to work out any bugs.

[@crocodile2006]

At a cost of $250,000USD I'd argue it's a joke. And yes I realise it's new adopter tech but you could buy a Tesla Model 3, 2 Tesla Home Battery Packs and have your entire roof covered with 10kw of solar panels and STILL have $150K left over

[@1RikAtiC1]

@@crocodile2006 so .. you dont understand its new tech.. its to proof a point. In 2025 they will produce a car around 30.000 €

[@crocodile2006]

@@1RikAtiC1 It's a cost benefit ratio. Is the cost of having solar panels on the roof (no back window so you can't see out the back and darkness in the rear and kind of make it looks ugley) with the extra cost and weight worth the benefit of producing a tiny amount of electricity... I would say no.

[@mech-E]

Im surprised the parking brake actuators are in the air stream under the car. Maybe they will move at some point to be out of the way.

[@aletaschulz1108]

I wonder how it compares to the Aptera prototype....at least Apter is being manufactured in the US.....Estimated price?

[@abc123fhdi]

can it plug into the house for off grid power?

[@SailPink]

I have Vila in Spain 🇪🇸 sunny 320 days of the year. The car sits 70% of the time on the drive. I would not anticipate I would need to charge that often but do have 20 panels on the roof and 13kw battery storage so this car would be perfect. Panels plus car would equal 7kw charging for free!

[@artsmith103]

Free answer for you. At 40 miles/day in your good sun: ~680 miles in 17 days between charges.

[@SailPink]

@@artsmith103 thank you very much for providing the information. Convinced me to buy once available to put theory into practice.

[@artsmith103]

@@SailPink You're welcome. I don't mean to question or insult any company info which I think focuses more on a good day or two. I own an array and have helped people size their arrays so I have good annual estimate experience for all of the variables. Don't get too fixated on the vehicle solar. You could do just as well adding 1-3 panels to your array. The Cd=0.175 in 4 passenger vehicle is the brilliant part. I did my calculation based on video data which looked very accurate.

[@artsmith103]

For instance you could look up your annual kWh from your array and divide in your array kW to determine annual peak equiv hrs. Multiply those hrs by the 0.600 kW of the car and then multiply by slight derating factor for the orientation of the car vs your array. Last is the basic algebra of your daily drive, daily solar, and battery size.

[@kelindrawn]

Full agreement! The lack of information regarding the range achieved at highway speeds is really annoying. I am very interested in how far a car can go at high speeds. Fortunately, there is the EV Database or InsideEV's range tests. Thanks for the video.

[@lesliefranklin1870]

Thanks for this great video. Although this car is way out of my price range, it's an admirable feat of engineering. Perhaps, someday its technology will trickle down to less expensive cars? For an electric car on long trips, most of the power is used to accelerate to cruising speed, then to push the air out of the way. With reducing the drag coefficient and improving solar panel efficiency, we come closer to extend the car's range, with perhaps the unobtainable goal of uninterrupted driving on a sunny day? Of course, this would have to be at highway speeds. Ah, one can dream. 😀

[@peterslegers6121]

Those trickle downs are just around the corner! Lightyear has specifically designed this car's components so they can be used in their next model, which should be available at the price of a regular family car. They plan to start delivery at the end of 2024 / in 2025. The car leasing and car sharing companies that bought multiple Zeros, have placed orders of 10,000 next model vehicles in total. Lightyear has also expanded into a former car roof manufacturer's place (who moved their production to Poland). They'll use these facilities to produce solar roofs that can be used by other brands as well.

[@SankofaNYC]

If other car makers start to make them prices will eventually drop… it’ll take a while though

[@artsmith103]

This car has a daily continuous solar powered speed of 3 mph. What you described is kind of meaningless.

[@lesliefranklin1870]

@@artsmith103 What? You don't dream? 🤣

[@artsmith103]

@@lesliefranklin1870 I dream of reality. This car built as a hybrid with 1.5L engine, 5 kWh battery, 50 mph electric motor, 5 miles/kWh, 75 mpg, ~100 mpge, 6 gal gas tank for under $30K. Maybe delite 1 of hood or trunk solar at buyer's choice. Parked, they're not both going to be productive.

[@plightn]

Hope that hood is tough enough for rock dings, otherwise replacing that hood might be too expensive. I love the out of the box thinking though.

[@clintonturner5545]

This is a benchmark car.

[@evoemperor3776]

It's like a modern citroen ds

[@suunraze]

What time of day was it?

[@vincentpham2893]

can it also charge via charging station?

[@ashiga8023]

interesting. how many sun km accumulating a day in spain?

[@jojoadventureride9227]

If the wheel can also charge battery and if we consider the wind turbine technology attach to the car maybe also can charge the battery but it will change the car design..combine with 2 battery..one for car to run another is to charge while driving.

[@Radium3D]

How much does a motor-wheel rash cost to repair? It's the most common issue in our Tesla group...

[@bigbadLN]

what type of hub motors are used? You say the hub motors are 97% efficient, at what speed is it 97% efficient?

[@Maceyee1]

So those panels basically power your rear view cameras and radio

[@phileasler5401]

Science project right now, but going in a great direction

[@chadpurser]

How resistant will that hood be to rocks? If you put a clear PPF on it, how much will that reduce solar power?

[@lesliefranklin1870]

I don't know about the Lightyear Zero, however the solar panels used on the Aptera will still generate electricity when they are significantly cracked. And they will be individually replaceable. The clear PPF could possibly be an issue. For 250K euros, they should test. Note that new, more efficient solar cells are being developed in labs. They use a broader spectrum of sunlight. So, any such changes should be tested as well.

[@bhupeshjoshi72]

Is it Axial flux motor in the wheels?

[@russellmoore1533]

This car and its sister car the Lightyear 1 must have influenced the Hyundai Ioniq 6, a definite similarity between them.

[@Calcifercat]

After seeing this video, I'm curious as to why Out of Spec hasn't done an Aptera test drive/review? It seems more developed compared to Lightyear Zero, predicted/estimated cost is way less, AND will be available in the US. Is it because it's not a "car" as some comments have posted? Yes, Lightyear looks better but... for a EV commuter/option to transportation, I think a review/coverage is warranted. Even a little short video.

[@isaachiew676]

I have been waiting for this car to roll out Aptera claims they are more efficient (1600km per single charge), but technically it ain't a car. Put more solar panels on the doors, ABC pillars and on the dashboard. I can see there are still spaces waiting to be filled up

[@chinwansang510]

Yes, Aptera is not a car and not beautiful!

[@ehhhhhhhhhh]

I'm particularly interested to see what experiences people have with this car for short commutes. Getting that trickle charge every day must make a huge dent for people who don't clock many miles.

[@msalmanalfarizy204]

I'd like to try that amazing car here in Indonesia where the sun light is always on for the whole year and very hot especially in 12am when the sun radiation reaches maximum level.

[@rustyshackleford00]

Cool. Could make a video of the latest Karma EV?

[@thelemoscom]

WOW I can´t wait to arrive in Brazil. Who knows in 2050

[@l-wook]

Sounds like you could run all day with a full charge and sunshine at 4mph?

[@Martinko_Pcik]

I would love to see how you change the tire if the motor is in the wheel. Is it a practical solution or just an efficiency experiment ? Interesting car, but I don't live in Spain to take advantage of it.

[@peterslegers6121]

It's not just an efficiency gimmick. They're working with Elaphe, a Slovenian company that has decades of experience with this kind of motors. kzbin.info Lightyear has sold at least 140 of their first model, and it has at least 10,000 pre-orders for the next model, a reasonably priced family car. Delivery is planned in 2024/2025.

[@artsmith103]

@@peterslegers6121 The 140 number is really encouraging. Can you provide a source from which I can watch that development?

[@peterslegers6121]

@@artsmith103 Dutch news outlets regularly report about new developments. I follow their channel kzbin.info and hop onto their website once in a while to see the latest details. There you might subscribe to their newsletter.

[@pumpuppthevolume]

frunk? ...with the engine in the wheels? although the engine doesn't usually take up space

[@tombaja4.9]

Charges under street light. Also has a windmill that can grind corn.

[@brybish]

I like the solar panel idea as most cars are stationary 99% of the time to charge batteries on board.

[@el4138]

The challenge lies in solar panel protection from road particles. The high purchase price also prevent it from mass producing at this stage, which could result in high tire replacement costs. Normal customer don’t pay over $5K on gas, so it’s hard to justify the market position.

[@MrJimheeren]

It’s a car that cost 250000€ people who can afford that can afford a 5000€ wheel

[@Re5ist_ance]

I've always liked the ideas of solar built into an electric car .. I mean why not. Especially for those that live in really sunny areas. Might as well be able to add a percent or two as your car is just sitting outside doing nothing!

[@Thunderbuck]

There's a very simple "why not": for most cars the available real estate for panels means that any available charge would never be more than negligible. Now, with the Lightyear and the Aptera, they've been engineered within an inch of their lives for efficiency, so they require less power to begin with, and both cars maximize the available surface area for cells (the Aptera even puts cells on the top of the dashboard!) Between that great surface area for cells and the above-average efficiency of the car itself, solar becomes at least marginally useful.

[@crocodile2006]

@@Thunderbuck 3:12 is the exact reason why this is a bad idea. According to the screen stats all those solar panels on the car have just enough power to run the Air Conditioning. I also wonder how much extra weight it is adding.

[@suzesiviter6083]

Till it breaks with a road pebble and it costs you thouands to replace.

[@Re5ist_ance]

@@suzesiviter6083 I guess while we are making up potential scenarios .. A meteor could also hit it completely destroying to car .. that bill would be hefty!

[@Re5ist_ance]

@@crocodile2006 we don't know what exact weight it adds .. for all we know it is negligible. Solar wafers have gotten lighter and more flexible i.e. moldable. All I am saying is that it does not hurt to get free extra juice if you mostly drive this to work and part for 5 to 8 hours while working. If its enough to even just run the AC that's beneficial because you are not loosing any charge.

[@DevouredByADream]

Seems like they could have saved a bit on the aerodynamics and power consumption by just using side view mirrors. Now you've got 2 extra screens to power.

[@JasMusical]

hub bldc motors ?

[@jamesfranklin2203]

Does it has trunk and frunk?

[@markknudsen1755]

Question I would have. Will there (or is there) a trunk? Or even a Frunk?

[@atom6_]

640 liter trunk

[@ZzHasbrozZ]

How many miles per Kwhr?

[@Punjabbefore]

parked in airport parking for a month covered in snow, will be towing to home 🤪

[@RIZFERD]

Has been in my mind for years this technology to apply as invisible solar panel to charge ev anywhere. even better when automotive manufacturers can invent attached invisible solar panel onto car's body as a paint layer of the car that would be amazing just like one of the kind rare blue paint, structural blue paint of Lexus LC 500

[@shithead4767]

That's sooo cool would be more convenient if it could still be plugged in tho.

[@pauliusvindzigelskis2224]

it can... Just spec shows only 75kw CCS which is sad speed in current day, would be fine 10 years ago

[@shithead4767]

@@pauliusvindzigelskis2224thx for clarifying i didnt catch that in the vid and like you said it's a sad speed especially in today's time where cars charge up to 350kw or 400kw like the hummer ev

[@jlgolson]

The charge speed is intentionally slow to be gentle on the battery. They say it allows for increased performance and efficiency from the pack.

[@mattmatolcsi6457]

105 Wh/km * 110 km/h = 11550 W average power consumption at highway speeds, all-in including electronics, environmental control and motors. Pretty awesome, IMO, hope to see it go to production.

[@onetruekeeper]

If the solar panels could provide enough power to run the car and charge the batteries at the same time would be a game changer.

[@JanRademan]

A Dutch car reviewed by an American in Spain.

[@jogibajr]

Hit a pothole with that and get a $10,000 charge to fix the wheel. The price is a showstopper.

[@thomasballard1753]

Very cool. I've heard complaints about the regulatory environment in the US disallowing things like the camera instead of a rear view mirror. What is involved in correcting those missteps taken by hopefully well-meaning law makers? How can we help Lightyear, Aptera and other manufacturers get vehicles like this in to the hands of Americans too? Thanks for the review, excited to see more options like this soon.

[@one_mega_ohm9139]

Maybe allowing camera based vision on a car is the misstep and you are the well-meaning citizen who lobbied to create more dangerous roadways.

[@thomasballard1753]

@@one_mega_ohm9139 good point. (I think Aptera folks have expressed concerns at giving up some drag coefficient to accommodate rear-view mirrors trading some range/efficiency for a regulatory requirement. I realize maybe I've just bought in to that without enough consideration though. Good call out.)

[@peterslegers6121]

@@thomasballard1753 Times have changed; these cameras weren't a thing when the regulations were made. Watching dash cam videos, my simple guess is that a video camera has less chance to be torn off a vehicle than the traditional mirrors. The inside video screens won't fog up like the window we're used to look through and the outside mirror we look at. The chance that all of the screens and camera's fail at once is next to zero. If the electricity fails, the car has a problem, whether it has outside mirrors or not. There's no extra danger.

[@thomasballard1753]

@@peterslegers6121 That makes sense. The challenge (at least in the US) now seems to be how to get the law updated to allow for the cameras instead of requiring the older mirrors still? There's a perception that once a regulation has been written in to law here that it's difficult/expensive to update it or repeal it.

[@pommiedownunder1]

This would work well in Australia :-)

[@atom6_]

This car was built by the folks who won the World Solar Challenge in Australia 4 times ;)

[@brianrice6993]

Storage?

[@Rogilio92]

The back looks like the eqxx from Mercedes :O

[@oldmanfromoc7684]

If you lived in the California desert you never run out of power!

[@venicepressure]

NO words about that this is a car designed and build by the Dutch ???!!

[@randyduerr503]

Have you seen the Aptera! They were actually probably first in many of the things you're talking about about with this car. I also love this company and this car they're doing things well but the Aptera needs to be looked at too if you haven't. I think it was a pretty comprehensive look at the light year zero. I hope they can make it. Aptera is close to production. So close I hope they make it too. Aptera is trying to make their vehicle also easy to repair by not using tires that are custom made they're using tires that are easy to get. Plus they're big proponents of right to repair. Anything you say about the light year could be said double about aptera.

[@gregb6914]

they should make the whole body a solar collector

[@whitlockbr]

OSR Foriegn correspondent!

[@kylebowles9820]

It was charging around 400-600, my car only uses 200 at 35mph, that's free city driving!

[@nathanwolf5547]

A modern day Citroen Cx!

[@scottbreseke716]

Acceleration: 0-60 in 10 seconds Price: $265,000 Range: 444 miles (715km) WLTP

[@a-don13]

10 seconds?? that's not impressive. but whats the kwh?

[@davidmccarthy6061]

@@a-don13 Why does it need to be. That's in line with most non-performance cars, which this is.

[@scottbreseke716]

@@a-don13 I know it's slow, and you can buy 4 Model Ys for that price.

[@a-don13]

@@scottbreseke716 ik but what's the kwh?

[@rctezluh42069]

@@scottbreseke716 spend a little more and get a Cadillac Haha

[@rzu7120]

The solar panels barely make up for the air conditioning usage.

[@soucyno1]

I wouldn’t mind driving one of these. I wonder the time frame when they will be trying to ramp these up? Also, are they going to be opening for the public to buy shares? I would like to see this happen. I hope this company learns to make their own panels and motors and battery packs, much like Tesla has. Be an all around company with this type of tech and we could say good bye to a lot of legacy automotive companies that may have even had a chance…

[@peterslegers6121]

Delivery of the first 140 Zeros should start in the fall of this year. Valmet Automotive in Finland will produce the cars and battery packs. The motors are developed with Elaphe from Slovenia. The solar panels will be produced by Lightyear in the Netherlands (Venray) and become available to other car brands as well. The delivery of their next model, a reasonably priced family car, is planned in 2024/2025. They've already sold 10,000 of them. There are some rumours about Lightyear wanting to enter the Amsterdam Stock Exchange in the future.

[@nilslivetlanga9710]

Lightyear 2, the next generation solar car, expected in 2024/2025, they say at an affordable price point. Charging standard electric cars means more power through the grid, means more capacity is needed on the grid, means expanding the grid. All electricity that doesn't have to be supplied additionally by the grid requires less expansion of the grid, less investments, fewer disruptions (California, Texas!?)... Nice solution a solar powered electric car, really nice for independence seeking people without a roof with space for solar cells, or without a powerwall, or without a driveway...

[@peterchandler8505]

More capacity may not be needed as most charging will be overnight where the grids is not far (well maybe a bit more, but nowhere near capacity) from idle...

[@galax64]

About 130 yrs ago, Porsche made first electric car, with 4 hub motors.

[@catparka7698]

Back before he was born, Ferry Porsche was a true pioneer.

[@xrotaryguy]

I thought my Ford has the world's slowest charger. But at 0.682 kWh, Lightyeay truly is very close to zero!

[@catparka7698]

That's only the solar input - regular charging too.

[@nestamac1119]

Gives me cyperberpunk vibes

[@altaherhmad2266]

I think it will be good choice in the sunny countries like Sudan as example , 100% of the year is sun so you want need charging the car at all 😂