5,000 Lightyear electric cars for sharing via MyWheels

In the Netherlands, the solar car start-up Lightyear is cooperating with The Sharing Group to integrate its vehicles into their car-sharing platform MyWheels. Lightyear is also making its Lightyear One sedan significantly more expensive for private customers.

According to Lightyear, 5,000 Lightyear Two models will be available via MyWheels from 2025 onwards. The Lightyear One is to be offered via MyWheels as early as 2023, but the company has yet to reveal how many of the model this will be.

According to Lightyear CEO Lex Hoefsloot, the future of mobility is not only about the vehicle itself, but also about how we use it. “Car sharing services are an example of how the market is evolving to find new, more sustainable ways to keep people mobile without owning a car,” Hoefsloot says.

Lightyear has also given an update on the production schedule for its models: Production of the Lightyear One at contract manufacturer Valmet Automotive is scheduled to start in late summer 2022 – previously, production was announced to start in the first half of 2022. The Lightyear Two will still be launched in 2024 or 2025 at an entry price of 30,000 euros. There are not many details about the model yet, but the first customer was revealed in December last year when the leasing company LeasePlan announced it will also take delivery of 5,000 examples of the Lightyear Two.

Those who (outside the Netherlands) prefer to buy a Lighyear One rather than use the vehicle in car sharing will have to dig much deeper into their pockets in future. Lightyear has raised the price by 100,000 euros. In fact, all 150 copies of the “Pioneer Edition” at a price of 150,000 euros have now been reserved – the first copies will be offered at a certain discount in the spirit of crowdfunding.

The next version to follow the sold-out “Pioneer Edition” will be a “Limited Edition”. This is priced at 250,000 euros per vehicle. “This price is more in line with the development costs for the production of the world’s first long-distance solar electric vehicle,” writes Lightyear. The company has not yet revealed how many copies of the “Limited Edition” are planned.

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