World’s first production-ready solar car to hit UAE roads in 2023

The world’s first production-ready solar car, the Lightyear0, will arrive in the UAE early next year, not long after the cars hit the market in Europe at the end of 2022.

There are plans for the $244,000 (Dh894,000) cars manufactured by Lightyear to be tested and sold in the Middle East, with the promise of being able to drive for months without requiring a charge.

The Dutch company teamed up with Sharjah Research Technology and Innovation Park with plans to perhaps set up an office in the emirate after it taps the investment appetite in the region.

Fitted with five square metres of solar panels on the roof and bonnet, the price of Lightyear0 in the UAE and the Middle East has yet to be announced.

A demonstration model was unveiled at the SRTIP zone on Thursday and will be taken to different cities to promote the technology.

The Lightyear0 vehicle will arrive in Sharjah early next year.

About 150 cars priced at €250,000 ($242,333) were sold in the EU even before the manufacturing facility in Finland begins production at the end of November.

The company will manufacture 946 cars, aiming to prove it is possible to drive simply by harnessing solar power.

“We sold 150 cars. These were sold before starting production, they are already spoken for,” Tom Selten, vice president of business development, told The National.

Hussain Al Mahmoudi, chief executive of Sharjah Research, Technology and Innovation Park at the unveiling of Lightyear0. Chris Whiteoak / The National

“We are producing a limited amount of vehicles. It will be a very exclusive car. In the next few months we want to get Lightyear0 there [UAE)]to show it’s possible and feasible to drive on solar power directly.

“We are aiming at bringing our vehicles early next