Lightyear wants to focus on cheaper models.
The Lightyear 0 was intended to be a high-end, luxury EV chock full of solar panels that sold for upwards of €250,000, or nearly $300,000 USD with current exchange rates. It seems like the brand was on track to get the super-expensive solar sedan on the roads, but after a mere three months of building the car, Lightyear has halted production of the 0.
Citing a strategic restructuring, the brand has chosen to completely stop production of the 0, and instead focus its attention on getting the Lightyear 2 EV on the roads. The brand says that it has faced “many challenges,” and in order to “safeguard its vision,” it is suspending the production of the Lightyear 0, redirecting the resources and energy to the Lightyear 2. The Lightyear 2 would start under $40,000, but it won’t go into production until 2025. Other than that, little else is known about the Lightyear 2.
Obviously, this restructuring may have some serious repercussions; the company contracted to build the car Valmet Automotive is facing layoffs of its own. Valmet also has agreed to produce the car of another troubled EV startup – Sono Motors. “This decision was not taken lightly as it impacts all who embarked on this journey with us,” said the company, via a post on its own blog.
On the flip side, the brand claims that 40,000 orders have been placed for the Lightyear 2, in addition to the 20,000 fleet orders the brand already had. Will Lightyear make it? Only time will tell.
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