For years now, solar energy has become a topic of major discussion within sustainable development firms. One of the main reasons is to help us power and improve how our cars are driven. With solar powered vehicles, we could reduce human dependency on fossil fuels, and change the way we travel long-term. However, the problem is that not many solar cars are actually on the market. One car that is set for release soon, though, is the Lightyear One. Is it worth your investment, though? Let’s take a look at what the Lightyear One Solar Car brings to the table.
440 mile range – is that real?
It’s been suggested that the Lightyear One Solar Car is going to be capable of a whopping 440 miles of distance with a single charge. That would make it by far and away the most powerful car yet in terms of distance travelled on a single journey. People who have had a first-hand try at it say that it feels futuristic, and that the travel distances aren’t exaggerated at all (especially since it can plug-in at electric car charging stations for an additional boost).
Solar-powered cars are becoming a more and more commonly discussed topic. With the rate in which electric cars are being bought up, too, it’s easy to see why there is so much excitement around them.
So, there is an obvious demand for electric cars. One interesting thing about the Lightyear One is that it will have a rear-facing camera fitted that you can then view from inside the car. No more looking out of the back window – because there basically isn’t one. With AI giving you alerts about things like cars coming into your blind spot, though, it might not be the big deal that it sounds.
The quad-engine car era is here
One thing we noticed when looking into the Lightyear One is that it has four engines – one for each wheel. If that just sounds gratuitous and overly fancy, it’s actually a really intelligent installation. It can improve vehicle aerodynamics, for one.
But how does it build up power? There’s not an obvious solar panel in sight. What it does instead is that it allows for 1,000 smaller tiles to exist that can soak up the sun and turn it into electrical energy. With smaller tiles, you can see some interesting color changes happening from tile to tile. If anything, it just makes the car look even cooler!
With a stated top speed of 100mph, though, it can go from 0-60mph in just eight seconds. So, this is a very powerful vehicle. It has range, and It can charge at a rate of around 12km per hour, though it could be charged up at local electric charging stations as stated before. With around 950 of these to be released by 2021, fans of the Lightyear One Solar won’t be waiting too long to see it up close and on the roads of Europe and beyond. We are sceptical and yet hopeful on this one.
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