{"id":6569,"date":"2020-07-14T13:36:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-14T11:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/?p=6569"},"modified":"2020-07-14T13:36:00","modified_gmt":"2020-07-14T11:36:00","slug":"lightyear-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/2020\/07\/14\/lightyear-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Lightyear One: 20 miles of daily solar driving range"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to its developers, solar cells untether\u00a0the Lightyear One from the grid.<\/em>\u00a0(Lightyear)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This EV\u2019s design features enough sky-facing surface area to place about 1,000 individual photovoltaic cells. <\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s been more than a decade since Toyota first developed a photovoltaic system for the roof of a Prius hybrid-electric vehicle (HEV). Those solar cells, available on Japan-based models around 2010, had a peak capacity of 50 watts \u2013 generating only enough power to run auxiliary devices such as a ventilation fan.\u00a0Further development for the past 10 years by Toyota, as well as Hyundai, Nissan and Tesla, opened the possibility of a vehicle\u2019s rooftop solar charging an electric vehicle\u2019s (EV\u2019s) batteries, adding maybe a few miles of range when the vehicle is left in the blazing sun for a several hours.<\/span><\/p>\n

Those efforts were baby steps compared to Lightyear One, the ground-up, \u201csolar EV\u201d created by Lightyear, the startup based in Helmond, Netherlands.\u00a0The company was founded in late 2016 by five former University of Eindhoven engineering students. They were part of the team that won the 1,800-mile (2897-km) World Solar Challenge race in 2013 and 2015.\u00a0The company now has 120 employees, including former staff from Ferrari, Jaguar Land Rover, and Tesla.<\/span><\/p>\n

The design of the Lightyear One, the company\u2019s inaugural $165,000 model, was penned by Lowie Vermeersch, the former Pininfarina designer who directed the shape of the Ferrari 458 Italia and Maserati Birdcage 75th, among others. FEV, the engineering firm based in Aachen, Germany, helped develop the Lightyear One\u2019s 60-kWh battery system; additionally, the company has received more than $33 million in investments, vehicle reservations and grants.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Up to 45 sun-powered miles<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n

What distinguishes the Lightyear One from previous solar-car efforts is the company\u2019s clean-sheet, systems-engineered approach. \u201cYou need to start with a blank sheet of paper at the platform level,\u201d said Arjo van der Ham, Lightyears\u2019s chief technology officer. For Lightyear, that meant four propulsion motors (one at each wheel), ultra-lightweight materials and cutting-edge aerodynamics with a Cd. of less than 0.2. The design also features enough sky-facing surface area to place about 1,000 individual photovoltaic (PV) cells crafted from production SunPower Maxeon cells.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe cells are cut to increase surface ratio, facilitate curvature and increase the efficiency of the electronics,\u201d said van der Ham. \u00a0Each cell measures about 1 in. X 4 in. (25 mm X 102 mm). A few dozen micro-inverters are integrated into the vehicle\u2019s carbon-fiber structural beams. The micro-inverters allow Lightyear to derive solid voltage from the cells arranged in series while maintaining a balanced flow of power even if some cells get uneven light.\u00a0Total peak output is 1.25 kW \u2013 enough power to add about 20 miles (32 km) of average range per day. \u201cOn a good day, you\u2019ll get 45 miles,\u201d said Lex Hoefsloot, chief executive at Lightyear. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Eric Wesoff, editor of Berlin-based PV <\/em>magazine, questioned the high cost of expensive solar cells and the challenge of mounting them on a car. \u201cPV cells don\u2019t like heat. Heat reduces output and a car roof is a hot place,\u201d said Wesoff.\u00a0 He added that dirt and partial shading are \u201cnot solar\u2019s friend.\u201d These challenges are acknowledged by van der Ham. But he said Lightyear incorporates those \u201cexpected losses\u201d into account. \u201cAlso, we have electronics that minimize the losses due to the \u2018weakest link in the chain\u2019 effect,\u201d he said, referring to the micro-inverters. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Again, the team takes a systems approach to balance competing design goals. \u201cYou want a car that\u2019s as narrow and flat as possible for aerodynamics,\u201d said Heofsloot. But you also want the broadest area for the PV cells and a \u201cseating position that\u2019s as comfortable as possible,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Long-term goal: a comfortable, self-charging car<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n

We sat in the Lightyear One when the team visited San Francisco in late 2019. The vehicle was reasonably spacious. The design forgoes a \u201cfrunk,\u201d instead using that space to house an HVAC module. The company is not yet granting rides in the car, its single prototype.\u00a0There also are tradeoffs related to the vehicle\u2019s battery size, which now grants an estimated 440 miles (708 km) on a single charge (including sun-derived energy). \u201cIf you increase the battery size, the weight increases, so then the motors have to increase in weight,\u201d said Heofsloot. He said this created a \u201cspiral-up effect.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

High efficiency and slippery aerodynamics allowed Lightyear to use relatively small, 20-kW, in-wheel motors. Hoefsloot believes the team solved issues related to unsprung weight and durability by integrating the motors with the suspension.\u00a0\u201cPeople say they want a car to charge itself,\u201d said Hoefsloot. \u201cTherefore, I think it\u2019s the end game of where we\u2019re heading with electric cars.\u201d He believes that other manufacturers will begin using Lightyear One\u2019s architecture.\u00a0The company aims to produce 946 vehicles \u2013 a lightyear measures 9.46 trillion kilometers \u00ad\u2013 starting in 2021. It\u2019s projects a ramp-up to 100,000 vehicles annually as early as 2023.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Source: https:\/\/www.sae.org<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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FLEET MANAGEMENT AUDIT<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to its developers, solar cells untether\u00a0the Lightyear One from the grid.\u00a0(Lightyear)\u00a0 This EV\u2019s design features enough sky-facing surface area to place about 1,000 individual photovoltaic cells. It\u2019s been more than a decade since Toyota first developed a photovoltaic system for the roof of a Prius hybrid-electric vehicle (HEV). Those solar cells, available on Japan-based…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6570,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[7,28],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6569"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6569"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6571,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6569\/revisions\/6571"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}