The bankrupt Lightyear dares a fresh start. But 1 billion is needed for production!

Lightyear is starting again, albeit in a much slimmed-down form. The Helmond company behind the Lightyear 0 and 2 solar cars was largely declared bankrupt earlier this year.

The outside world didn’t see Lightyear’s demise coming. At the end of 2022, it was celebrated that production of the 250,000 euro 0 had started at Valmet in Finland. And at the beginning of January, the manufacturer even showed the first picture of the cheaper 2, which should come onto the market in 2025 for a starting price of 40,000 euros.

Lightyear largely declared bankrupt

A few weeks later, the first signals came out that things were not going well. The construction of the 0 was stopped due to financial problems. All attention would now be on the 2.

But it was only days before Atlas Technologies was declared bankrupt. This Lightyear operating company was responsible for the development and construction of the 0.

Acute crisis averted with 8 million euros

Shortly after the bankruptcy, the trustee realized that a new start could possibly take place. There were interested investors, above all the entrepreneur Arnoud Aalbersberg. And they have now raised 8 million euros, which averted the acute crisis at Lightyear.

Fund wanted to keep intellectual property

So far there has been a problem. A number of investors, including Dutch sovereign wealth fund Invest-NL and insurer Dela, owned Lightyear’s intellectual property as collateral for their own investments and were initially reluctant to part with it. Those rights have now been released, allowing Lightyear to start over.

How much does it cost to mass produce Lightyear 2?

You can’t do that with 8 million euros alone. Therefore, between 40 and 45 million euros will soon have to be paid for a working prototype of the 2 Series, which should be on the road within a year and a half.

It is estimated that 1 billion euros will be needed to start mass production. “There is a lot of belief in that,” Aalbersberg told the business magazine Quote.

One hundred employees can return

The 0 is completely off the track. The new investors want to get back to the core and remove all side issues from the company. You are now building a new management structure. About 100 of Lightyear’s 600 laid-off employees can reportedly get their jobs back.