The group from Eindhoven whose prototype car won the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge for three years, just introduced the world's first long-range solar car—the four-passenger all-electric vehicle called Lightyear One.

The prototype, which has already sold 100 orders to be filled in 2021, was presented to a select audience of investors, customers, partners, and press last week at the break of dawn in the Netherlands.

"This moment represents a new era of driving," said Lex Hoefsloot, CEO and co-founder of Lightyear. "Two years of dreaming, thinking and working hard have led to this milestone, which is a giant leap towards achieving our mission of making clean mobility available to everyone."

Lightyear was founded in 2016 after receiving enough accolades, grants, and investment that they were able to develop their working prototype in just two years.

The Lightyear One has been engineered using only the principles of physics to produce maximum efficiency for their plug-in car to get "the most out of every ray of sunshine."

They were able to produce a 4-passenger luxury car that requires only half the energy consumption of other cars in its class—with a battery two-thirds the size of a Tesla S but providing longer range, up to 800 kilometers (497 miles) if driving in full sun.