[vivee90]

Hello Everyone,

Today in the Netherlands, a young and energetic start-up by the name of Lightyear has unveiled their first road legal 5 seater production car. The idea behind is nothing revolutionary in plain sight. Anyone with a decent idea of Energy and Cars might have always wondered why aren’t cars fitted with Solar panels on body panels made it to the roads yet!

And that is exactly what this company has done. It is not a completely solar-powered car but can add considerable range via the Sun's energy. So, the idea itself isn’t out of the clouds but the implementation and the outcome certainly is. After two years of intensive development, they have today unveiled their first model “One” that will be delivered by 2021.





The Story of the “Lightyear One” team

It is not an odd group of tinkering minds plonking together solar panels on a Volkswagen Golf or a Tesla Model 3. This is a Spin-off from a student team of the Eindhoven University of Technology who used to compete in the World Solar Challenge in the Cruiser category. The team designed and built 4-5 seater full-size cars that ran only on solar energy for several thousands of kilometres in the roads of sunny Australian coasts. Their confidence to build a road legal, commercial car out of the student concept made of CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic) took flight after winning their category consecutively. The efficiency was in the implementation. Especially the integration of Solar panels in the body panels, a very aerodynamic notchback design and use of lightweight chassis.

So, a couple of years before a special team was formed to design and develop a commercial version and experienced Engineers from across the industry was roped in to help them with nuances. This was critical because the student concept had its limitations in the materials used and the robustness. Experienced hands are required to work out the cost and regulation compliance since a real car just goes through a lot of situations that a concept car wouldn’t.

The design of “Lightyear One”

The car that was unveiled today takes a notchback profile with an extraordinary rear overhang. The car has been designed with Energy frugality in mind to require the least amount of energy for motion. One might argue that it is basically an electric car with a solar body panel. That is not completely true as the car does have some bold innovations that are not in the market (available as concepts elsewhere). There are some aspects in which it actually shows the character.



This is no performance car and the team is very frank about it in the typical Dutch way. It is no corner carver or Nurburgring track toy. This is an out and out a family car that gives less guilt as one drives it and not adrenalin. 0 to 100 km takes approx. 10 seconds and high speeds will affect the 725 km(standard test) range the company claims. The solar panels are smartly integrated into the body panels of the hood and roof which trails on as the tail of the car.

Charging

The solar panels are claimed to deliver energy equivalent of 12km for every 1 hour in the sun. This means that if one can park the car in the office, the car will be charged for a decent 100 km during the work time. Needless to say, this car will also have the ability to give the energy back to the grid to save on the electric bills. Nissan and Tesla's models already have this option. The panel is claimed to be 20% efficient than typical ones and is configured smartly to charge even when a part of the car is in shade.



For the most part, the car will be charged off the Grid and the team claims an 8-hour charge via normal socket will load up to 400 km range.

Battery and Efficiency

Not many details are available about the battery except that it will be fairly heavy to keep up the juice. The CEO has mentioned that it will be ⅔ rd size of a Model S and will be able to drive longer than the Model S. He implied that it requires only half the energy of what is required to propel any other car of its class. On an averagely sunny place, the car can get around 20000 km per year in full Solar power.

Powertrain

The very word “powertrain” could be irrelevant in the future with the use of hub motors. There isn’t really a train of power transmissions and rather just a “Powerloco”. The motors are hub mounted and altogether do away with any type of gearbox in this car. Even Teslas have single speed gearboxes mated to the Motor and are not direct drive units. This is a bold step in the Industry and is a clear compromise for efficiency over outright performance. By adding to the unsprung mass, the dynamics of the car goes for a toss but it ensures even fewer moving component.

And it is claimed that since the chassis itself is designed specifically for this kind of set-up, they were able to design the suspension in such a way that it is only marginally heavy than conventional models. Since the company is very open about their intentions of building a sustainable family car, they can get away with it.

Interior

The interiors are minimalistic if not adequate for a luxury family saloon. It has a ridiculously large boot with a trunk-sized under box thanks to the massive overhang. The perks of designing a longish tail to get the good Aerodynamics effect means one can simply store a surfboard inside the boot. The buttons and handles are all minimalistic and designed keeping weight in mind. The rear seat is couch-like and is directly hooked to the roof reducing weight. This was made possible due to the fact that the car doesn’t have a rear glass.

The space inside the hood (Frunk in Tesla lingo) isn’t yet disclosed yet. But there is space to hold a cabin bag between the driver and the passenger in the front row. The car is expected to have ADAS and Autonomous functions when it is delivered. I guess they are mere plug and play from suppliers as the team is only focussed on extracting energy efficiency.



Cost

As one can imagine, the car doesn’t come cheap. The car costs USD 150,000 which is actually a lot. The equivalent of buying a Tesla Model S performance with the Powerwall and the Tesla Solar panels. Being an aspirational car and a sustainable mobility harbinger, I guess there are customers out there who will make way for the technologies to come further downstream within the reach of masses.

For further information and picture courtesy,

https://youtu.be/bSbWwn_YCr8

The team has a long way to go in making the production right, homologating it and bringing it to the streets. But it is definitely inspiring to see the effort of a Student team that has now entered the battlefields of behemoths in a time span of just 2 years. Having associated with student competitions for a few years and witnessing the environment in places like Eindhoven, this is something I wish we could start here too. Spin-offs from Student competition teams challenging the incumbents who are focussed only on investment protection.

Looking forward to your comments and opinion about such upstarts.

(OT: to give a perspective, the two-wheeler companies in India are crying that they don't have enough time to bring a complete range of E-2wheelers by the 2025 deadline of the government. That is 6 years for designing new 2 wheelers. )

[srishiva]

Its a little costly. The range is good and also with solar charging expected to add 12km/hour of range, should be enough for office commuting. I think they have tried to increase the solar panel surface area with the design. But I guess in our country, we need to strive hard to keep the panels clean. Maybe they should build a normal looking car !

[vivee90]

Originally Posted by srishiva

Its a little costly. But I guess in our country, we need to strive hard to keep the panels clean. Maybe they should build a normal looking car !

Agree! And good point with dust accumulation bothering the efficiency. I suppose they would do some coating or have a mechanism to ensure it.

This is normal looking IMO, just a little longer rear overhang. When compared to BMW i3 and Prius, I mean. They didn't make a design that stands out to get attention, it is just a functional design to increase solar surface and aerodynamics.

[ramsi]

Inching closer to mainstream production Lightyear One the EV with additional Energy generated with Solar panels declared today that they've achieved a range exceeding 440 Mile or 710Kms on a single 60Kw charge. This was possible due to an additional 3.45 kWh, generated by its solar roof.
Remarkable feat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnEPjJBBjFg&feature=emb_logo

Additional news can be read by clicking on the source link below

Source

[RM Motorsports]

EV startup Lightyear reveals its first solar-powered production electric vehicle. The vehicle has 388 miles of range, 44 miles of which are derived from solar power alone.

The Lightyear 0 features a 60kWh battery pack with four electric motors that supply 174 horsepower and 1,269 lb-ft of torque. Lightyear says the vehicle will sprint from zero to 62mph in 10 seconds and reach a top speed of 100mph.

It’s built like no other electric car, charging on-the-go and gaining up to 70 kilometres of range per day from the sun alone.

https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/ph...8675841-5.html