Record: Solar car Lightyear 0 is the most streamlined production car of all time

• The Dutch manufacturer Lightyear announces a record.
• With a drag coefficient (Cd value) of 0.175, it is the world’s most streamlined production vehicle, according to the manufacturer.
• The value was determined in Stuttgart according to WLTP standards.

Lightyear wants to bring the first commercially available solar car on the market. The electric car, called Lightyear 0, has a total of five square meters of solar cells, which can generate an additional range of 70 kilometers per day in good conditions. Overall, the range should be 700 kilometers according to the manufacturer.

The aerodynamics, the aerodynamics of a vehicle, are extremely important when optimizing the range. And here the Dutch manufacturer announces a record for the Lightyear 0 in a press release.

In a wind tunnel in Stuttgart, the electric car achieved a “drag coefficient” of 0.175 (Cd). This makes the car the most streamlined production vehicle of all time. As the US magazine Electrek writes, this title was previously held by the strange-looking GM EV1 from the 1990s, which had a drag coefficient of 0.190.

With the Aptera, competition is just around the corner

Whether Lightyear can hold the title for long is questionable. The Aptera solar car, which is very unusual in comparison to the more conventionally designed Lightyear 0, is said to have a drag coefficient of 0.13. The EQXX, the “1-litre car” from Mercedes-Benz, has a drag coefficient of 0.17, but is even further away from series production.