Lightyear is out of the gate
If the future is electric, the latest electric car start-up company looks more like the future than most. Dutch start-up Lightyear is developing a futuristic sedan with sleek aerodynamics, hub engines and 53 square feet of rooftop and hood solar panels. This could represent about 795 watts of solar energy or about three-quarters of what is claimed for the next Sono Sion solar-assisted electric car in Europe.
Lightyear says the panels are enough to add 7.5 miles of range per hour on a sunny day. But there are plenty of asterisks we should add to a claim like that—such that it’s a rate you likely won’t ever see unless you’re out in an open field in the middle of summer, at noon, parked at a very specific angle