Dutch new energy startup goes bankrupt: only a few new cars produced



According to news on February 3, Lightyear, a smart electric car start-up company from the Netherlands, submitted a bankruptcy application to the local court and will stop paying money to the operating company Atlas Technologies BV. Simply put, the world's first solar electric car Lightyear 0 will stop delivering. It is reported that Lightyear 0 had started mass production since the end of 2022, at a rate of 5 vehicles per week. As of the bankruptcy filing, the total production of this car is only a few vehicles.

With the new energy trend coming, a large number of innovative start-up companies have emerged in the smart electric vehicle market. Whether it is vehicle design and manufacturing or upstream battery suppliers, there are always outstanding leading brands going to the world. Unfortunately, Lightyear 0, a Dutch start-up company that built the world's first solar-powered car, has officially declared bankruptcy, and this Lightyear 0 solar-powered smart car has also stalled on the production line forever. Realistically, it isn’t a surprise that Lightyear 0 went bankrupt, it is a surprise that it delivered.

In fact, using solar power as a marketing gimmick to lure investors or customers is smart. At present, Lightyear 0 is not a car that relies entirely on solar power. Even if it is used as an ordinary electric car, it will not affect its normal operation. However, with the power provided by solar energy, only in the case of sufficient sunlight can commuting of 35 kilometers be achieved without charging. For most car owners, this number of kilometers is not very attractive.

Of course, it cannot be said that solar electric cars are a huge scam. After all, the new energy market is still in the early stage of exploration, and any beneficial clean energy has huge possibilities. It’s just that at this stage, there are too many uncertainties that technology cannot properly control factors of solar energy. Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, and domestic new power car companies have applied for a large number of patents related to solar energy. It is not difficult to see that solar energy will be a bright feature in the future research and development.

Unlike these car companies, Lightyear 0 has almost no other bright spots worth mentioning except for solar energy. Even the embedding of solar panels makes the body shape look a little rough. For new energy vehicles, it is already a fatal problem that the shape is not cool enough. On the other hand, the security of Lightyear 0 is also worthy of in-depth discussion, such as the high heat of solar energy and the design of the cooling system.