The Dutch Lightyear, which is going to market with a fully electric car with solar panels, has already managed to raise a lot of money from investors this year.
Lightyear reports that to date it has raised €93 million in 2021. Among others, insurer Dela and investor Joop van Caldenborgh are investing money in the company. According to Lightyear, Dela is making the investment because it pursues similar goals, namely a sustainable future, and Lightyear’s pursuit of clean mobility is in line with this. Joop van Caldenborgh is a so-called SPAC investor (Special Purpose Acquisition Company) and is also the founder of Museum Voorlinden in Wassenaar. It is not known what amounts these parties invest in Lightyear. It is reported that SHV, an international trading group, is investing €20 million.
Lightyear CEO Lex Hoefsloot is of course delighted with the amount raised and sees it as an important encouragement: “It is great to see the recognition from investors, which is a proof of their trust in Lightyear. Thanks to that trust and the financing received from our investors, we can continue to grow as a company and bring our exclusive Lightyear One model to market in 2022.”
As mentioned, the Lightyear One is an EV that generates extra electricity thanks to solar panels. That should of course greatly benefit the range of the car and the One recently proved on a test track that it can cover 710 km before the battery is empty. You can’t do that with daily use, of course, the WLTP range of the Lightyear One will soon be known. Incidentally, Lightyear is not going to build the One here in the Netherlands, but in Finland.