Lightyear One solar EV just hit amazing 441 miles of range in new test

Sunil yadavJul 09, 2021Technology

Recharge times are still something of an issue with even the best electric cars, and no matter how fast the newer models may be they’re still not as fast as filling up with gas. But what if you could recharge while you drive?

The Lightyear One prototype is one such car, utilizing solar panels to top up the 60kWh battery pack. And its latest track test managed to keep its battery going for a very impressive 441 miles.

(Image credit: Lightyear )

Interestingly, the solar panels themselves didn’t play a huge part in the Lightyear One’s endurance. Lightyear has claimed that the panels could offer up to 45 miles of range on a sunny day, though the test took place on “a bit of a cloudy day” and that naturally affected the recharge rate.

Hoeflsoot said that the panels were able to generate around 3.4kWh, which translated to around 25 miles. Had the weather been a little better, the Lightyear One may have made it past the 450-mile mark. That said, getting around 416 miles from the battery is still incredibly impressive. Impressive enough that it surpassed the company’s own expectations.

“It definitely surpassed expectations on such a very early run,” Hoeflsoot tole Elektrek. “We know we can still improve on for example aerodynamics, the powertrain, brakes, and suspension. So we are very happy with these early results. It was very cool to see that our vehicle performance model did a good job in predicting these outcomes.”

Lightyear One — (Image credit: Lightyear)

However, that’s not the end of the road, with the Lightyear CEO explaining that “At the same time, it will give valuable input on how to improve the model and also fine-tune our models for side-wind, brakes, and ambient temperatures. For example, it was quite a windy day at the track, so we saw a deviation there with the predictions from our model.”

This test is a big step, because it shows just how far an electric car can go on a fairly small battery. All you need to do is focus on energy efficiency and making sure every kWh goes as far as possible. Not only will that improve a car’s overall range, and reduce the amount of charging it needs, it’ll also help lower the cost of long-range vehicles. Because batteries are expensive, and cutting it down to size means you can hack some dollars off the final price.

The Lightyear One is now due for some more fine tuning, ahead of a limited release of 946 cars early next year. However you’ll have to wait a few years for a mass market Lightyear, which isn’t expected to arrive until sometime in 2024.

Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our T witter, & Facebook

We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.

For all the latest Technology News Click Here

For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.

Read original article here

Denial of responsibility! TechAzi is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.