Lightyear to deliver 5,000 EVs for solar car subscription

Lightyear has signed an agreement with LeasePlan, a car-as-a-service company, to reserve 5,000 cars of Lightyear’s second model, which is scheduled to go into production by 2024/2025. LeasePlan had already committed to making Lightyear’s first model, the Lightyear One, available through its European network. The Lightyear One will start production in 2022.

Lightyear announced the agreement during a keynote speech and Q&A session with CEO Lex Hoefsloot and CFO Laurens Weers, during which the company shared its strategic roadmap and product vision to deliver on its goal to bring clean mobility to everyone, everywhere through highly efficient, solar electric vehicles, the company says. The second model builds on the technology developed for Lightyear One, and will be available in Europe, the U.S. and other global markets at a more accessible starting price point of €30,000 (approx. $33,831).

“Together, LeasePlan and Lightyear will deliver the world’s first solar-powered car subscription,” said Tex Gunning, CEO of LeasePlan. “With Lightyear, range anxiety is a thing of the past, as is the nightmare of having to find a convenient and available charging station – an absolute breakthrough in the fight to cut emissions from road transportation. We look forward to joining forces with Lightyear and putting drivers behind the wheel of some of the cleanest, most innovative EVs ever produced.”

BorgWarner has agreed to acquire the electric vehicle solution, smart grid and smart energy businesses of Hubei Surpass Sun Electric (SSE). The transaction has an enterprise value of up to RMB 410 million (approx. $59.36 million).

Headquartered in Xiangyang, Hubei province, China, SSE’s electrification business supplies patented electric vehicle charging solutions to customers in China and more than 70 other countries. SSE says it has delivered over 50,000 charging points and has led the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of more than 250 charging station sites. SSE’s charging and electrification capabilities in China are expected to complement BorgWarner’s existing capabilities in Europe and North America, the companies say. SSE’s 2022 revenues for the electrification business are expected to be approximately RMB 180 million (approx. $26.06 million).