Lightyear Plans to Ship Its Solar-Powered Car This Year

pcmag.com:

Lightyear has announced that it plans to ship its solar-powered car, the Lightyear 0, this year.

The company says(Opens in a new window) that it plans to offer rides in the Lightyear 0 in select cities this month, start producing the vehicles sometime this fall, and deliver the first cars to consumers in November.

Those vehicles will feature solar panels on their hoods and roofs to limit the amount of time Lightyear 0 owners need to spend charging the vehicles. Lightyear says the "optimised solar roof and holistic design mean that the car can drive for weeks, even months, without charging."

The company says that drivers in cloudy climates who commute about 22 miles (35km) per day would be able to drive "for up to two months" without charging their vehicles; that average time between charges reaches "up to seven months" for Lightyear 0 drivers in sunnier locales.

Lightyear says that it's also trying to build its debut vehicle as sustainably as possible. The interior is said to be "vegan and eco-friendly, featuring plant-based leather, fabrics made from recycled PET bottles and wooden deco elements from sustainably-restructured rattan palm."

The company used recycled carbon fiber materials for the exterior, too, and it's attempting to minimize the Lightyear 0's environmental impact even further by allowing it to be "plugged into a regular home socket" rather than requiring the use of dedicated charging stations or adapters.

The Lightyear 0 is available now via the company's website(Opens in a new window). It turns out that a solar powered car won't come cheap: Pricing starts at roughly $263,000 (€ 250.000 excluding VAT) before the vehicle is configured. Lightyear hasn't said if or when it plans to release the car outside