Category: Automotive

The seemingly impossible car

Arjo van der Ham — Co-Founder

Technology today is evolving faster than ever. When you stop and think about it, the possibilities seem endless. Every day, a lot of great (or to be honest, most of the time not-so-great) ideas pop into my, our, or your head. Although the seemingly impossible ideas are hard to achieve, it does not have to imply that they are bad ideas. That’s why at Lightyear we like to do some quick back-of-the-envelope calculations to check the feasibility of some of those ideas.

Before we founded Lightyear, we used to meet every Thursday evening to do just that. After concluding that we wanted to start a business to make this world a better place by combating climate change, we started looking for the best solution. The first step we took was to investigate the underlying causes of human induced climate change, and we quickly found the following graph:

Total greenhouse gas emissions in the Netherlands, 2014, World Resources Institute.

We were s..

When cars and solar energy meet

Lex Hoefsloot — Co-Founder

Energy is the ability to do work. It is the reason why we have progressed into a highly prosperous society within 200 years. Energy veteran Gregg Maryniak showed me this graph that puts the whole story into perspective. Looking at this timescale, it suddenly becomes clear that fossil fuels are just a blip in history. In a very short time, fossil fuels gave us prosperity and the ability to accelerate all aspects of human development. Sadly, we all know that these energy sources came with a dark-side. We will inevitably switch to a new energy source.

Fossil fuels are just a blip in history. source

Despite the fact that this ‘blip’ is associated with massive amounts of energy, scientists are in fact quite certain that we can produce the same amount of energy using solar and wind power. Isn’t it fascinating how we are heading towards a future in which we can produce many times more energy using solar and wind power than mother nature has been ca..

Lightyear wins €100 000 in Postcode Lottery Green Challenge

Martijn Lammers — Co-Founder

We have joined the finalists on stage at the Postcode Lottery Green Challenge. The four other finalists came from all over the world to pitch their companies in front of an international jury (http://www.greenchallenge.info/info/juries). Lightyear will use the 100,000 euro cash prize to accelerate the development of their first car, the Lightyear One. Several preliminary rounds preceded the finals. Out of a total of over 500 companies the five finalists remained.

“All the problems we have had with zero emissions vehicles, those belong to the past now.” – Lex Hoefsloot, CEO of Lightyear during his pitch at the Green Challenge finals.

On June 29, 2017 the Dutch startup Lightyear officially announced their plans to bring a commercial solar car to the market in 2019. The first vehicle, the Lightyear One, is an electric four-wheel drive car that can handle rough terrain and has a battery range of 800 kilometers, charged by the sun. Production of th..

We’re in the finals of the Postcode Loterij Green Challenge!

Martijn Lammers — Co-Founder

From over 500 companies, we are one of 5 finalists in the Postcode Loterij Green Challenge. The finale is set to take place on 14 September in Amsterdam. Lex will be pitching, competing with the other companies from Denmark, France and Rwanda. The winner will take home €500.000.

The Postcode Lottery Green Challenge is one of the world’s largest annual competitions for sustainable entrepreneurship organized by the Postcode Lottery (active in The Netherlands, Sweden, the UK and Germany). The Postcode Lottery Green Challenge encourages green start‐ups to send in creative and innovative business plans for products and services that contribute to a low carbon economy and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

We’re excited to be in the finals!

Being one of five Finalists means that we have already been awarded €100.000. During RTL Summer Night, a late night talk show, to which we were invited to talk about our company. During the inte..

Lex goes USA, come meet us!

Lex Hoefsloot — Co-Founder

The dust has settled following the public launch in June, which has brought us the helping hand of many. Not only can we announce that dozens of people are interested in placing or have already placed a reservation for the Lightyear One, we have also received many applications from talent all over the world passionate about collaborating on our mission. We are expanding our team, with our most urgent vacancy being a Mechanical Architect. Although these are still humble beginnings, our movement is taking shape.

So what have I been up to? I was honoured to participate in the Global Solutions Program at Singularity University. Together with 89 people from 47 different countries chosen from thousands of applications, Lex has had a crash course in the future from the world’s best thinkers, including Peter Diamandis (“The World’s 50 Greatest Leaders” – by Fortune Magazine) and Ray Kurzweil (“the ultimate thinking machine” by Forbes and as a “restless ge..

We are Lightyear, we’re on a mission

Martijn Lammers — Co-Founder

We love electric cars…

But they’re only the first step, what if they could generate their own energy?

That’s a business opportunity!

Lightyear was founded by 5 Solar Team Eindhoven alumni. With Solar Team Eindhoven, we built the revolutionary solar cars Stella & Stella Lux. Both cars are 4 seaters, road legal, solar powered and built to win the World Solar Challenge cruiser class. After two world championships, we decided that it is time for the next step.

Our story started back in 2012. All we had was a blank canvas, no experience, no network and no money. We took our enthusiasm, a healthy dose of naivety and common sense to start an endeavour that still continues today. Looking back, it is easy to forget the times we worked until the sun came up or the problems that kept us from working at all. Like the time our cars’ transport to the competition in Australia was cancelled a week before we left. Or the desperate attempts removing a crucial ..

Michelin and Fenner announced a recommended cash offer for all shares of Fenner PLC

L’ACCÈS À CETTE PARTIE DU SITE INTERNET PEUT FAIRE L’OBJET DE RESTRICTIONS EN APPLICATION DE LÉGISLATIONS SUR LES TITRES FINANCIERS DANS CERTAINES JURIDICTIONS. CET AVIS REQUIERT QUE VOUS CONFIRMIEZ CERTAINES INFORMATIONS (Y COMPRIS QUE VOUS N’ÊTES PAS RÉSIDENT DE TELLES JURIDICTIONS) AVANT D’OBTENIR L’ACCÈS AUX INFORMATIONS FIGURANT DANS CETTE PARTIE DU SITE INTERNET. CES DOCUMENTS NE SONT… Continue reading Michelin and Fenner announced a recommended cash offer for all shares of Fenner PLC

12 hours of Sebring – MICHELIN “cool” tires beat the heat

Aujourd’hui, ces mêmes pneus Michelin se sont bien comportés en dehors de leur fenêtre d’utilisation habituelle, puisque Porsche et BMW, qui les ont chaussés durant la majorité de la course, ont réussi à monopoliser le podium des 12 Heures de Sebring, deuxième étape du championnat IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar 2018. Notre philosophie consiste à concevoir des… Continue reading 12 hours of Sebring – MICHELIN “cool” tires beat the heat

Formula-E 2017/2018 – Uruguay – The MICHELIN Pilot Sport EV2 tires sweeps to success

Long de 2,785 km, le tracé du circuit de Punta Del Este comporte 20 virages. Les pilotes ont dû le parcourir à 37 reprises, contre 34 fois en saison 2, et 31 tours la première année. C’est donc la course la plus longue qui a eu lieu ce week-end au coeur de cette station balnéaire… Continue reading Formula-E 2017/2018 – Uruguay – The MICHELIN Pilot Sport EV2 tires sweeps to success

CFAO and Michelin team-up to market high-quality tires in Kenya and Uganda

Cette nouvelle entité opérera sur les deux pays, qui totalisent plus de 90 millions d’habitants, distribuant des pneumatiques pour véhicules légers et camionnettes ainsi que des pneus poids lourds, deux-roues, génie civil et agricoles. Michelin souhaite accélérer la distribution de ses pneumatiques haut de gamme à la longévité et à la résistance éprouvées en saisissant… Continue reading CFAO and Michelin team-up to market high-quality tires in Kenya and Uganda