Lightyear 0 solar car revealed: Owners might not need to charge for months

Lightyear 0The Lightyear One solar car was unveiled in production-ready form with a new name. The product of a Dutch startup will henceforth be known as the Lightyear 0. While it does have an onboard battery pack, the Lightyear 0 aims to "leapfrog the grid" by using built-in solar panels to handle most charging. In cloudy climates, with an average commute of...

Stella Vita electric RV aims to get the most miles from solar

Stela Vita electric RV on Fully Charged ShowA team of Dutch university students has radically redesigned the RV with solar power and an aerodynamic shape. As detailed recently on "Fully Charged Show," The Stella Vita is an electric RV with fold-out solar panels designed by Solar Team Eindhoven, a team of engineering students at the Eindhoven University of Technology. In 2021, the team took...

Sono Sion solar hatchback on track for 2023 production, company says

Sono Sion series-validation prototype constructionSono Motors on Monday announced that it had taken another step toward getting its Sion electric hatchback into production on schedule. In a press release, Sono said it had started the series-validation phase of development. The company said it's currently building a fleet of 37 series-validation vehicles and bodies-in-white, which represent the...

Sono is designing Sion solar EV to be a mobile home power bank

Sono Sion with wallboxMunich-based Sono Motors, which is working to bring its solar-supplemented Sion electric car to market for Europe, revealed last week that it is developing its own AC wallbox that will allow the car to be used as a mobile power bank or external home energy storage. While most other such units use the DC fast-charging connector, the Sion unit will...

Home solar and electric cars are converging, and it’s about time

SunPower home solar installationElectric cars and home solar complement each other, and a new alliance between solar-energy provider SunPower and charging-equipment maker Wallbox aims to make the most of that. With this alliance, SunPower customers can opt to install a Wallbox home charging station at the same time as their home solar and/or energy-storage system installation...