Meet the Lightyear One, the Dutch-made solar electric vehicle, that, in June, hitthe record for the longest distancetravelled by an EV on a single battery charge.
At a speed of 85km/h, it drove for almost nine hours straight, covering a distance of 710 kilometers!
According to the homonymous company, Lightyear, “this distance is the longest range an electric vehicle has ever achieved on 60kWh of energy.” For reference, the 2021 Tesla Model 3 Long Rangehas an average range of 455km on a 70kWh battery capacity.
Lightyear also claims that “even the most efficient electric cars on the market today consume around 50% more energy at this relatively low speed.” Its goal, therefore, is to lower the energy consumption per kilometer in order to provide a lot of range on a small battery.
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Since the introduction of its first prototype version two years ago, the Lightyear One has been developed as a long distance cruiser and hasfour independent in-wheel electric motors. It consumes 83Wh/km and can accelerate from 0 to 62mph in less than 10 seconds.
Thanks to its five solar panels, which add about 12 kilometers of range per hour of charging, a driver could ideally, in a very sunny country, travelfor months at a time without having to juice up their vehicle.
The Lightyear One will be released in the first half of 2022 and will cost approximately $177,000.
If you’d like to see the EV hitting the record with your own eyes, you can check out the video below:
Do EVs excite your electrons? Do ebikes get your wheels spinning? Do self-driving cars get you all charged up?
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Story byIoanna Lykiardopoulou
Ioanna is a writer at TNW. She covers the full spectrum of the European tech ecosystem, with a particular interest in startups, sustainabili(show all)Ioanna is a writer at TNW. She covers the full spectrum of the European tech ecosystem, with a particular interest in startups, sustainability, green tech, AI, and EU policy. With a background in the humanities, she has a soft spot for social impact-enabling technologies.
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