A solar car claiming to be the ‘most efficient’ traveled 248 miles at 81mph on a single charge

• The Lightyear One can travel more than 248 miles at 81 mph on a single battery charge.
• In previous tests, it traveled over 440 miles on one charge but at a lower speed.
• The price of reserving the car is $171,000 (€150,000).

The next milestone for electric car manufacturers is to harness solar energy — and it seems a Dutch company is already making inroads into this goal, with a solar powered car aiming to be on the streets by mid-2022.

The Lightyear One is an electric vehicle produced by the Dutch company Lightyear. 

In recent tests, the car was able to travel over 248 miles at a speed of 81 miles per hour on a single charge of its 60 kWh battery.

These tests were carried out at a greater speed and in colder conditions than in previous testing.

“Both of these things have an impact on the efficiency of the vehicle, so this lets us see how the vehicle performs in different real-world conditions,” said Megan Parfitt, test coordinator for the project.

The recent tests were carried out on a test track owned by the Bridgestone tire company in the Italian town of Aprilia, south of Rome. 

At the track, the Lightyear One recorded an energy consumption of 141 Wh/km.

“What this means is that on one charge you would be able to drive over 400 km. For example, that’s from Amsterdam all the way to Luxembourg,” Parfitt explained.

“Comparing that to other vehicles on the market right now, that’s about one and a half times further than a directly comparable vehicle can do with the same battery size,” she added.

In previous testing, the Lightyear One traveled over 440 miles on a single battery charge.

First deliveries in summer 2022

Reservations for the Lightyear One have been open for months, but deliveries are currently limited to European Union countries, Norway, and Switzerland. The price of reserving the car is $171,000 (€150,000). It’s also possible to reserve one by becoming a shareholder in the company.

The website says that deliveries will start in the summer of 2022. 

A major Dutch fleet management company, LeasePlan, has also reserved 5,000 of Lightyear’s second model. 

The Lightyear Two will be available from 2024/2025 and will be more affordable than the Lightyear One, at around $34,400 (€30,000), according to Lightyear CEO Lex Hoefsloot.