Words by Tess Becker
As the planet continues to warm, the world is trying to find ways to cut down on emissions to try and slow climate change. One of the primary focuses on that has been gas-powered cars, with some places like California even scheduling bans on the sale of them.
Car companies around the world have started rolling out electric alternatives, Dodge is even ending production of its famous Charger and Challenger in favor of focusing on the production of electric cars.
Now a new company is slated to release the world’s first solar-powered car.
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The new car, manufactured by a Dutch company named Lightyear, is called the Lightyear 0. The company claims that the Lightyear 0 is the first car ever to generate a ‘reasonable’ amount of energy using solar energy.
The car has five solar arrays arranged across its body that actively charge the car whenever there’s sunlight whether it's parked or driving.
“After six years of developing its own technologies, Lightyear has surpassed one of the most challenging phases for new automotive companies: entering the market with novel technology,” said the company in a statement.
They claim that the car can go months without needing a charge as the solar charge provides up to 40 miles worth of charge every day.
“Starting production of Lightyear 0, the first solar car, brings us a big step closer to our mission of clean mobility for everyone, everywhere,” said Lex Hoefsloot, CEO and Co-Founder of Lightyear. “We may be the first to achieve this, but I certainly hope we aren’t the last.”
This article aligns with the UN SDG Industry Innovation and Infrastructure.
