This is it? This car is going to save our world?
We think so.
Transportation accounts for roughly 30 percent
of our worldwide CO2 emissions in the atmosphere.
At the same time, the number of fossil fuel powered cars
is set to double by 2040.
How do we turn this around?
Electric cars can be a solution, but currently that electricity
still needs to be generated, in part by fossil fuels.
However, there might be a truly carbon-free solution on the horizon.
I’m in the Netherlands and I’m going to meet Tessie Hartjes
who works at Lightyear, a start-up that focuses on
developing the world’s first solar-powered car.
This is Extinction Update,
an ecological face slap.
Last year, lazy humans bought 80 million cars;
an army of idiots celebrating the death machine.
Luckily, not everyone is fixated on dying.
A group of people in the Netherlands
have invented the first solar-powered car.
It is a glimpse of a sensible future.
And at the very least,
it will be exciting to see how governments ban it.
[The World’s First Solar Car]
There it is.
-Hi, I'm Djanlissa. -Hi, I'm Tessie, welcome.
This is Lightyear One, a solar car.
It's the first one in the world and this is our first prototype.
All the black parts are solar cells.
It can charge with solar energy, but it's a regular electric car.
We've made it so efficient
that it has a 700 to 800 km range on a small battery.
The idea is to charge it with electricity as little as possible.
In the Netherlands you would have to charge it more often than in Spain.
-So it really depends on the sun? -Yes, the more sun you get...
If you live in San Francisco, you may only charge it a few times a year.
How much is this car worth?
This first prototype is worth well over a million euros.
It’s a bit scary, right?
I can imagine that you don’t want to hit anything.
No, a lot of people have worked very hard on this for many hours.
So if I do anything that causes scratches,
I will definitely have a problem.
The main complaint about electric cars is the battery's pollution.
Is that something you've thought about?
It would be nice if we didn’t need any battery, but it does get dark,
and in the Netherlands you can have several dark days in a row.
We want to have the smallest possible battery with the least pollution
to offer the largest range.
So if you’re going to drive our car,
after 20,000 to 40,000 kilometres you're already saving CO2.
Lightyear solar cars still need electricity from the grid.
Especially in less sunny climates.
But it will still drastically reduce the carbon footprint.
If you drive it for 12 years for at least 15,000 kilometres per year,
CO2 emissions go down by 53 percent.
This is more or less our production facility, but we call it our lab.
Another company will manufacture the cars, and we'll make the solar roofs.
Over the next year, we will equip other vehicles with our technology.
If more people can start charging their cars directly with sunlight,
the transition to sustainable transport will be made more rapidly.
If other transportation industries start using solar technology,
we could see solar planes, trains, and boats in the near future.
That would really start to create a dent in CO2 emissions.
When are you hoping to put this car on the market?
We were going to start selling these cars from 2023,
but that’s three years away,
so we decided to start producing cars earlier.
Those will be mainly made by hand, so that will be an exclusive batch.
They will be a bit more expensive, around 120,000 euros plus tax.
Two years later, we’ll start putting the 50,000 euro car on the market.
OK, but 50,000 euros is still not really affordable
for people without a lot of money.
Is there a plan for that?
The second model is now 50,000 euros.
Once we get to the third or fourth model,
it should be accessible to everyone.
The CO2 problem is a daunting task we have to face as humanity.
Because even though we actually buy fewer cars every year,
we still bought 80 million cars last year.
This is not your fault.
But we need you to help un**** the planet.
To stop governments and big businesses
acting like psychopaths.
To consume less and teach more.
So, if we survive,
we’ll see you on the right side of history.