Lightyear submitted a request to the court to cease payment proceedings to its business unit Atlas Technologies on January 23, as per the press release. For context, Atlas is the Dutch solar startup’s operating unit for the Lightyear 0.
“Lightyear regrets having to make this announcement for all employees, customers, investors, and suppliers and will work closely with the curator and all the people involved and hope for their understanding and support.”
Lightyear
The suspension of payment was granted on January 26 by Rechtbank Oost-Brabant located’s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands. Thereafter, Atlas Technologies was officially declared bankrupt, with Holla legal & tax’s R. van Oeijen as the court’s appointed trustee.
“In the coming period, the trustee will focus on the position of the employees and creditors as well as assessing how the Lightyear concept can be continued.”
Lightyear
Lightyear halts flagship model Lightyear 0 production
Amid the bankruptcy proceedings, Lightyear has also decided to officially halt the production of its flagship model, Lightyear 0, to focus on the Lightyear 2 for the mass market.
“Unfortunately we had to make this decision. The whole process of developing Lightyear 0 has provided our company many valuable learnings over the past years. We are now redirecting all our energy towards building Lightyear 2 in order to make it available to clients on schedule.”
Lex Hoefsloot, Lightyear CEO and cofounder
In retrospect, Lightyear has just started the 0 productions in late 2022 at its Finland production plant. Unfortunately, the company’s production costs ended up being greater than expected. That said, Lightyear fell short of its expected production of 1,000 units.
Lightyear to start production of Lightyear 2 by 2025
Lightyear started to accept reservations for the new Lightyear 2, which is supposedly for the mass market at below €40,000. The company claims it has already collected more than 20,000 pre-orders for the new model, mainly from fleet owners. By 2025, the company plans to begin its production.
Lightyear 2 has an approximate range of 500 miles (800) km with its battery pack. Its solar power can also independently power the car efficiently. As for the highly-awaited launch, the Lightyear 0 will initially debut in the US, UK, and EU markets.
