Rental company Arval, a subsidiary of BNP Paribas, announced on Tuesday a pre-order for 10,000 solar-powered cars designed by Dutch startup Lightyear.
An expected model for 2025
The Lightyear 2, scheduled for 2025, promises a range of more than 800 kilometers with solar panels on its roof, and a price “less than 40,000 euros.”
Arval plans to offer 700,000 electric or hybrid vehicles for long-term rental by 2025.
This partnership should “support Lightyear’s entry not only into the European market, where customers will be invited to events in 2023-2024, but also internationally,” the two companies said in a statement.
21,000 pre-orders for Lightyear 2
In total, pre-orders from Lightyear’s business partners now exceed 21,000 vehicles, representing purchase promises of around 840 million euros, according to Lightyear.
The startup, which has 600 employees, has already launched at the end of 2022 a very exclusive first solar model, the “O”, with a range of 625 kilometers.
Some start-ups like Lightyear or Sono Motors, but also auto giants like Toyota, have started installing solar panels on their new electric cars, which promises a little more range.
Sono Motors, which aims to launch production of its little Sion in early 2024, indicated at the end of December 2022 that it had registered 1,000 firm orders.
Source: BFM TV
