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Lightyear shelves solar EV plans, hires executives to spearhead solar systems for other OEMs

Lightyear solar EV

Star-crossed startup Lightyear has finally thrown in the towel on attempting to bring its long-promised solar EVs to market – at least one donning its own badge and design language. The startup’s founding CEO, Lex Hoefsfloot, has been replaced as the born-again startup pivots toward solar panel development to be implemented on other companies’ vehicles. That, frankly, is just not as sexy.

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Now’s your chance to buy a Lightyear 0 prototype as the start-up auctions off all its assets

Buy Lightyear

As part of a recently announced restructuring plan in which defunct start-up Atlas Technologies (Lightyear) rose from the ashes of bankruptcy, it is auctioning off hundreds of assets to pay back its creditors and transition into a new business entity. Today, you can buy one of several Lightyear 0 prototypes as well as a bunch of other components used to assemble the solar EVs.

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Lightyear reemerges as new slimmed down company, will continue developing its solar EV

Lightyear

Months after officially declaring bankruptcy but vowing to continue development of its mass-market solar EV, Lightyear has restarted its business as a new company with a significantly smaller team. In order to raise additional funds to continue its quest to bring affordable SEVs to the masses, Lightyear plans to auction off the few models of the Lightyear 0 that were originally built.

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Lightyear tries to claw back from bankruptcy as new company using Solar EV tech as collateral

Lightyear bankruptcy

Less than a month after declaring bankruptcy, the remaining team at Lightyear has announced plans for a new company entirely focused on getting its short-lived Lightyear 2 into production. The solar EV startup says it has raised a “solid capital base” from a community of investors to continue solar EV development, but at the risk of its intellectual property (IP) as collateral.

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Lightyear zeroes out 0 production to focus on more affordable Lightyear 2 solar EV, following encouraging wait list registrations

Lightyear production

Less than two months after its official start of production, Lightyear has suddenly suspended all assembly of its flagship 0 solar EV. Instead, the Dutch company says it will shift all focus and resources on the development and production of its second model – the Lightyear 2. This comes as a bit of a shock and begs the question whether Lightyear will have the funds to get its second solar EV model into scaled production.

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Lightyear 2 waitlist goes live, 500+ mile range solar EV priced below $40K for US customers

Less than a month after kicking off production of its flagship solar EV the 0, Lightyear has begun teasing images of its second, much more affordable model, the Lightyear 2. Following an announcement this morning, Lightyear has opened up its waitlist to pre-order the Lightyear 2, which will be sold in the US, UK, and Europe. It promises to deliver over 500 miles of range on a single charge with the help of our Sun and start at an MSRP below $40,000.

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$30k Lightyear 2 solar EV targeted for 2025 as company secures another $80 million in funding

Lightyear EV

Solar EV manufacturer Lightyear has welcomed another fresh round of investment capital to help get its first vehicle – the Lightyear 0 – into production this year while furthering development of its second SEV, the Lightyear 2. The €81 million (~$80M) round is led by Invest-NL, who funds businesses and projects that are working to make the Netherlands more sustainable and innovative.

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Lightyear announces Koenigsegg as investor and ‘technology-sharing partner’ for future EVs, like Lightyear 2

Lightyear Koenigsegg

Solar EV manufacturer Lightyear has announced Swedish high-performance sports car manufacturer Koenigsegg as its latest investor. Furthermore, the latter will join Lightyear in a “technology-sharing partnership” in which both automakers will share proprietary and patented information to develop ultra-efficient vehicles like the upcoming Lightyear 2.

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Lightyear partners with MyWheels to supply over 5,000 SEV models to car sharing platform

Lightyear MyWheels

Solar electric vehicle (SEV) developer Lightyear has announced a partnership with The Sharing Group, whose MyWheels car sharing platform is currently the market leader in the Netherlands. As part of the agreement, Lightyear will provide 5,000 units of the Lightyear Two – its second SEV – which has yet to be revealed, in 2025. Additionally, some models of the Lightyear One SEV will join the MyWheels platform in 2023.

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