- The Dutch EV startup Lightyear’s running enterprise, Atlas Systems BV, enters personal bankruptcy times just after output of its initially EV was halted.
- The business to begin with introduced suspended creation of the Lightyear to emphasis all energies on bringing the Lightyear 2 to current market, starting off in 2025.
- The EV startup’s to start with EV had a commencing price tag of close to $260,000 while providing a selection of 388 miles, and was manufactured under contract by Valmet Automotive in Finland.
Just days following Lightyear indicated it was halting creation of its progressive and partially photo voltaic-driven Lightyear sedan to concentration on its future model, the organization has entered individual bankruptcy. The Dutch startup, which was present at CES a lot less than a month soon after output of its initially design commenced, has now stopped payments to its functioning company, Atlas Systems BV, which contracted Valmet Automotive in Finland to generate the superior-tech—and substantial-priced—electric sedan.
The fate of the company’s 2nd design, the Lightyear 2, is now uncertain as the company navigates personal bankruptcy. Lightyear aimed for a manufacturing commence in 2025 for the Lightyear 2, as properly as a commencing selling price just down below the $40,000 mark, promising a variety of 500 miles concerning recharges many thanks to photo voltaic panels and other systems.
“As declared on January 23, we experienced to post the ask for for the opening of suspension of payment proceedings with respect to Atlas Systems BV, our working business dependable for the creation of Lightyear,” the business said in a assertion.
The company’s ask for has been granted by a courtroom in the Netherlands, which declared individual bankruptcy for Atlas Technologies BV. Nonetheless, the personal bankruptcy only problems the producing arm of the business, even though the prospective customers of the whole enterprise, and the work of much more than 500 workforce, are now in question.
The company unveiled just a pair of months in the past that it experienced lifted $80 million forward of the start out of Lightyear production in Finland.
Previously this month the firm had opened a waiting around record for the Lightyear 2, which would have included many systems from the company’s to start with model, just a couple of of which are believed to have been produced because early December.
“In the coming period the trustee will concentrate on the position of the staff and collectors as effectively as evaluating how the Lightyear idea can be ongoing,” the firm included.
Lightyear saw solar know-how as the important to conquering array anxiousness as very well as charging costs, engineering its initially design in excess of the program of six years, to produce up to 43 miles of variety per working day. The sleek sedan, with a drag coefficient of .175 Cd, showcased a fairly modest 61.2-kWh battery, even though promised an overall assortment of 388 miles in the WLTP cycle.
It continues to be to be observed no matter whether the company, which experienced raised quite a bit of dollars just right before the creation start of the $260,000 sedan, will be ready to reorganize and appeal to much more financial commitment for its next model, or if a different automaker will be ready to appear to the rescue.