Last month, at the Aldenhoven Testing Center in Germany, we marked a very important achievement for Lightyear.
In June, we took our latest Validation Prototype to a test track in Germany. We achieved a significant milestone in our history: we drove over 440 miles (710 kilometres) on a single battery charge. This distance is the longest range an electric vehicle has ever achieved on 60 kWh of energy.
At a speed of 85 km/hr, we drove for almost 9 hours straight on one single charge. Even the most efficient electric cars on the market today consume around 50% more energy at this relatively low speed.
“After four years of hard work and in-house development, this validates the performance of our patented technology and truly shows that we can deliver on our promise.” — Lex Hoefsloot, CEO Lightyear.
This first validation test represents a big step for us, as well as for the industry, as we took energy EV efficiency to the next level. Lowering the energy consumption per mile (km) of an EV ensures that you can provide a lot of range on a small battery. Because batteries are the most expensive part of an EV, it means that, in the future, we can scale up towards affordable electric cars with a lot of range.
With this drive cycle test, we have been able to validate some crucial assumptions of our Vehicle Performance Model. The results definitely surpassed our expectations on such a very early run and it provided us with valuable input on how to improve the model. From measuring the yield of the solar panels to the energy consumption of the cooling system, we will continue to improve Lightyear One and make sure it is the first step in achieving our mission, to bring clean mobility to everyone, everywhere.
As we celebrate this moment, we are looking towards the future, where we want to conduct other tests, such as crash tests and an official WLTP drive cycle test. Not only that, but an exclusive series of 946 Lightyear One’s will go into production in the first half of 2022.
You can learn more about how we’re developing the most efficient solar electric vehicle.
