We believe that driving should be clean and effortless. Without emissions, unrestricted by plug-charging. So, in 2016, we began forging a new, radical automotive reality.
Six years later, what began as a dream has become a bright, pioneering reality. We launched the world's first production-ready solar car. An immense step towards our mission of clean mobility for everyone, everywhere.
The global premiere set a stage where technical innovation could meet raw imagination. We also revealed our car’s final name, Lightyear 0 (previously Lightyear One). Plus, a fresh look and feel for our brand with a revised Lightyear logo.
Presenting those vivid new aspects of our identity in tandem was no coincidence. The launch marked a transition beyond development-to-production vehicle. It's this transitional moment that ties Lightyear 0 and our new symbol into one, bright thread. When a new phase of impact, and a new chapter for Lightyear, took physical form and shape.
Illustrated by light — The Lightyear logo
In the same way that sunlight pours over the earth effortlessly and infinitely, we design cars that move through it freely. Powered by that very same source.
The idea of infinity is a good fit for us. You might be wondering then, why the change?
Lightyear Brand Director, Alexander van der Linden, explains: “The difficulty is, that although its meaning resonates, the infinity symbol is not unique. It’s commonly used, we could never truly make it our own. It lacked visual authenticity.”
“We thought about the concept of visualising a light-year, but it was just too abstract. We wanted something minimalistic, that captured movement, direction and purpose. It was in this thinking — about purposeful, yet effortless movement — that the word ‘flow’ kept reoccurring.”
Flow is defined as an effortless and continuous movement. You don’t need us to point out the remarkable synergy, there.
“We began developing the idea of flow over a period of months, exploring its meaning and application within nature. It took thousands of considered iterations to land on our final design: an effortless flow with its own Lightyear stamp.
The logo our car now wears marries the sun’s continuous flow of energy with its own effortless movement.”
Back to our origin — Lightyear 0
At Lightyear, we’re no strangers to the drawing board. In fact, we never shy away from it. The brightest ideas and plans are often formed and drafted there. True innovation starts from scratch. Zero.
It was in this same spirit that we began creating Lightyear 0, following instincts and nourishing curiosity. Our car’s name symbolises more than clean-slate thinking. It’s the vehicle that will take us back to where we began. To our origin, as travellers, following the essence of all life on earth — the sun — and the aim of a zero-emission future.
Name and logo, united in nature’s balance
As well as visually marking a new era for Lightyear, there’s more that unites our car’s name and our fresh company logo. Their visual shapes both occur within nature.
The proportions of our flow symbol are found within the golden ratio. This is a sequence of proportions that connects all life on earth. It appears in plants, animals, weather — even star systems.
Zero is a circle. It represents nature’s symmetry and the cyclical patterns that keep the earth alive and in balance. The circle of life. All of us play a part in preserving and protecting that delicate harmony. Clean mobility is an important way to reduce our impact on the planet, and it's one of many.
We can’t achieve our mission without moving and joining mindsets. In the same way that shapes and proportions reveal themselves repeatedly to form broad, beautiful and ever-expanding landscapes, it’s our aim to cultivate new viewpoints. Ever-expanding into a positive, vivid shift in how we approach mobility for our world.
