Solar Electric Vehicles

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.

As Aptera Motors looks to reach its long-sought scaled solar EV production milestone, it has secured a tier-1 battery supplier and a hefty investment from Korean manufacturer CTNS.

Resilient startup Aptera is back with a robust progress update after a busy summer promoting its upcoming solar EV by the same name, ahead of planned production next year. The company has posted not one, but two videos updating its fanbase about its progress, which appears to be coming along quite nicely. Could it be the first to successfully reach scaled solar EV production?

Three men from Switzerland have formed the Peak Evolution Team with the goal of conquering the summit of Ojos del Salado in Chile – the world’s highest active volcano – in a solar electric truck, with the help of Austrian logistics company Gebrüder Weiss. The custom-built solar EV is on its way to Chile, and if the team proves successful, it will have achieved a world record that will quite literally bring the electric vehicle to new heights.

Nearly 70 years ago, the idea of a viable solar car concept was introduced to the world in Chicago, Illinois. While these vehicles started small (literally), they have progressed alongside the sustainable technology segment to a point where scalable solar electric vehicles are closer than ever, but there’s still plenty of room for innovation.

In true Aptera fashion, its cofounders shared a video update outlining the company’s progress in bringing a solar EV into scaled production. The webinar which debuted live this morning can be viewed in full below and offers a slew of news surrounding grants, funding, tooling overseas, and solar development. Here’s the latest.

WAEV, the maker of the popular GEM neighborhood electric vehicle, has just announced a new solar panel option that turns the roof of its EVs into a convenient energy source.

Aptera Motors is back with its second exciting news update this week, announcing it has selected an open-source driver assistance system called “openpilot” as its official system that will be integrated into its production model solar EVs.

Solar electric vehicle start-up Aptera Motors has announced its first fleet order from SustainabilitySooner, Inc. The initial pre-order is for 101 of Aptera’s 400-mile range solar EVs and is expected to deliver millions in future revenue. However, what may be more exciting is the prospect of future fleet orders as SustainabilitySooner looks to eventually operate a fleet of over 100,000 SEVs.

One day after announcing the official award of a $21 million grant in California, Aptera Motors looks to garner additional funds from its Accelerator investment program in exchange for access to the first 2,000 commemorative builds of its Launch Edition solar EVs. There is still plenty of room to invest and snag one of the first 2,000 Apteras built.

Solar electric vehicle startup Aptera Motors shared encouraging news today as it has been awarded a grant from the California Energy Commission (CEC) to the tune of $21 million. The grant comes as welcomed news for Aptera as it looks to reach scaled production of its namesake solar EV as one of the few startups left trying to successfully scale the sustainable technology for the masses.

German solar technology startup Sono Motors has officially thrown in the towel on its Sion solar passenger EV program following an inspiring but unsuccessful crowdfunding campaign called #SaveSion. The pivot puts the company’s entire focus on its Sono Solar tech business, which has previously found success with third party customers around the world. While Sono should be alright, its abandonment of solar EV development is yet another chapter in a sad tale about how hard it is to scale the technology without billions in funding.

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.

One week after sharing details of its Launch Edition Solar EV, Aptera Motors has announced a community funding program called Accelerate Aptera, hoping to raise between $20 and $50 million. By investing a predetermined minimum, reservation holders have a better chance at receiving delivery of one of the 2,000 Launch Edition Apteras planned. Better still, the person who invests the most on the leaderboard (yes, there’s a leaderboard) locks in delivery slot #1.

It’s been a real tough month for the few but extremely innovative solar EV companies out here. Having just announced a shifting of its business strategy and a request to suspend all payments to its operating company, Lightyear has officially declared bankruptcy. Sono Motors’ flagship solar EV, the Sion, is staring down a similar barrel, as the startup fights to raise more funds to keep it alive. Meanwhile, Aptera has a production-intent design, but still needs millions of dollars to get it to production.

Just a few days after sharing specifications of its Launch Edition solar EV, Aptera Motors has backtracked on a previous comment stating that its upcoming vehicles will not come with DC fast charging capabilities. Aptera has now let its community of loyal fans know it hears them, vowing to equip all its solar EVs, including the aforementioned Launch Edition, with the capability to charge on Tesla’s supercharger network.

Aptera Motors has inched closer than ever to customer deliveries of its flagship solar EV donning the company name. During a webinar presentation earlier today, the California-based startup unveiled new details its Launch Edition solar EV – a unified configuration that includes all-wheel drive and 400 miles of range, but Aptera still has a few financial and infrastructural hurdles to overcome before it can start delivering these solar EVs to the masses. More below.

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.

We like to think that we have it all figured out in the West, but while we’re still trying to get solar electric cars off the drawing board, China’s EV engineers already have them driving around. Look no further than this awesome little three-wheeled electric truck that just happens to have enough solar panels to give it nearly infinite range — at least while the sun is out.

Hours after posting its Q3 2022 results, Sono Motors CEOs and cofounders Jona Christians and Laurin Hahn offered a public statement outlining the financial struggles of its Sion solar EV program, which now teeters on the edge of being scrapped so the company can focus on its revenue-generating B2B solar technology business. Before it gives up however, the Sono team has launched a 50 day campaign called #saveSion which implores its community of reservation holders to commit to a solar EV purchase to help kick off a 12-month journey to get the Sion into production.

Just six years after what began as a solar vehicle competition among students, Lightyear has reached a watershed moment in clean mobility. Today, the company officially kicked off the start of production for the Lightyear 0 solar EV at Valmet Automotive in Uusikaupunki, Finland, and we were fortunate enough to be the only US media outlet in attendance. Today not only proves that solar EVs are possible, but also scalable, kicking off an even more sustainable echelon of zero-emission mobility.