Lightyear One - from solar racer to commercial product

[Xist]

Not if you have a T-top!

Fun fact! The ejection seat would have broken your legs!

[RedDevil]

Lightyear is testing prototypes ahead of the 2022 limited production start:

https://electrek.co/2021/07/07/lightyear-one-prototype-delivers-441-miles-of-range-on-a-single-charge-in-latest-track-test/


441 miles at 53 MPH with a 60 kWh battery (plus 3.4 kWh from its solar panels, it was mostly cloudy during the run).

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by RedDevil

Lightyear is testing prototypes ahead of the 2020 limited production start:
).

Huh?
Lightyear has been for sale over a year?

[RedDevil]

Originally Posted by rmay635703

Huh?
Lightyear has been for sale over a year?

Either that and we missed it all, or I had a typo.

Still not sure which of those two it was but I fixed the typo


At the festivities for our national holiday Koningsdag (Kings day) last April 27th a prototype Lightyear was used to haul members of the Royal Family around.
Princess Alexia seems to like the car?

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by RedDevil

Either that and we missed it all, or I had a typo.

Still not sure which of those two it was but I fixed the typo

Lol, I would be checking the MSRP

Seems like their estimated range has gone up over the years, hopefully accurate

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by RedDevil

441 miles at 53 MPH with a 60 kWh battery (plus 3.4 kWh from its solar panels, it was mostly cloudy during the run).

It could have had a measly 3.4 kWh larger battery pack and that extra range would be available all of the time rather than only during optimum conditions.

Originally Posted by rmay635703

Seems like their estimated range has gone up over the years, hopefully accurate

Seems range claims have no accountability. Tesla is notorious for claiming more range than people typically get. They can get away with it because range varies so much depending on environmental conditions that it's difficult to define a testing regimen that will produce accurate estimates for people in those varied regions.

[Isaac Zachary]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

It could have had a measly 3.4 kWh larger battery pack and that extra range would be available all of the time rather than only during optimum conditions.




Seems range claims have no accountability. Tesla is notorious for claiming more range than people typically get. They can get away with it because range varies so much depending on environmental conditions that it's difficult to define a testing regimen that will produce accurate estimates for people in those varied regions.

Somewhere I saw it read that there's also the EPA rating that not only gives you a number off of standardized tests, but if you're willing to put in more testing you can increase the EPA range number even further.

Of course with so much range and Tesla being marketed as a sports car and not a fuel efficient sipper that you can double the range in by just going slower I don't think that most people that have them drive efficiently.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

Somewhere I saw it read that there's also the EPA rating that not only gives you a number off of standardized tests, but if you're willing to put in more testing you can increase the EPA range number even further.

Of course with so much range and Tesla being marketed as a sports car and not a fuel efficient sipper that you can double the range in by just going slower I don't think that most people that have them drive efficiently.

I expect the EPA process for EVs to be similar to that of ICE vehicles in that the EPA specifies the testing criteria, and it's up to the manufacturer to supply the results. EPA only tests 10% of ICE vehicles, so there's incentive for manufacturers to gamble on inflating their figures. Ford was busted for claiming something like 7 more MPGs than actual for their C-max.

Not only is there incentive to cheat to lure customers, but there's probably incentive to cheat to meet CAFE and CARB mandates. If a vehicle shows as getting better fuel economy, then fewer carbon credits need to be purchased to offset fleet emissions.

[RedDevil]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

It could have had a measly 3.4 kWh larger battery pack and that extra range would be available all of the time rather than only during optimum conditions.

The conditions were not optimal, and the use case for solar panels on a car is not the long trips beyond battery range kind.

The point of having panels is that they keep charging when the car is parked.
During the test the panels added about 25 miles of range in 9 hours on a mostly overcast day. So it would easily add 200 miles in a week, or 10,000 in a year.
If your commute is not way beyond say 40 miles a day, you'd only have to charge it in winter, during especially bad spells of weather or when you do extra driving.

[Isaac Zachary]

Originally Posted by RedDevil

The conditions were not optimal, and the use case for solar panels on a car is not the long trips beyond battery range kind.

The point of having panels is that they keep charging when the car is parked.
During the test the panels added about 25 miles of range in 9 hours on a mostly overcast day. So it would easily add 200 miles in a week, or 10,000 in a year.
If your commute is not way beyond say 40 miles a day, you'd only have to charge it in winter, during especially bad spells of weather or when you do extra driving.

The cool thing about solar panels is they are light weight. I don't know about Lightyear One, but Aptera says their solar panels only add about 6 lbs to the car. A "measily" 3.4 kWh more of battery could potentially weigh some 85lbs more and take you over 2 and a half hours to charge from a conventional outlet. And on days that there's full sun, those 6lbs could get you double that, saving you from over an hour at a 6kWh station.