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Months after officially declaring bankruptcy but vowing to continue development of its mass-market solar EV, Lightyear has restarted its business as a new company with a significantly smaller team. In order to raise additional funds to continue its quest to bring affordable SEVs to the masses, Lightyear plans to auction off the few models of the Lightyear 0 that were originally built.

In the exciting by recently ill-fated segment of solar EVs, Netherlands-based startup Lightyear has been one of the most exciting to follow. Its original concept evolved into the Lightyear 0, which actually reached production for a fleeting moment in late 2022, as the company began to tease its second, more affordable model – the Lightyear 2.

Mere weeks after given a select group (including yours truly) a sneak peak of the 2 at CES in January, Lightyear suddenly declared bankruptcy relinquishing its business to a Dutch legal and tax firm. The sun appeared to had unfortunately set on the solar EV startup, who was previously touting some of the most impressive in-house technology in the segment, falling just short of delivering one of the most aerodynamic passenger vehicles ever made.

In February, however, a ray of hope shined through the dark clouds over Lightyear HQ as it vowed to restructure into a new company and continue its work. The startup stated that Individual Investors Group (IIG) let by initiator Arnoud Aalbersberg, was helping facilitate a relaunch by raising enough funding to act as a base for the new company, raising 8 million euros in a single day.

While Lightyear is by no means out of the woods yet, it has officially been reborn and will continue its fight to bring the Lightyear 2 solar EV to production. Here’s the latest.

Lightyear

Lightyear to auction of 0 SEVs to pay its creditors

According to a press release from the startup today, it has achieved a restructuring plan that has satisfied all parties in involved, relaunching as an entirely new company called Lightyear Technologies. Following the initial bankruptcy declaration in January, Lightyear’s parent company, Atlas Technologies Holding followed suit today – a necessary step to allow for Lightyear to be reborn as the new entity.

Through the restructuring, the startup’s IP and a separate solar panel division will become part of Lightyear Technologies, combining for a team of just about 100 employees – significantly smaller than the 600 on staff in the company’s first iteration. CEO and cofounder Lex Hoefsloot spoke to the rebirth:

I am very happy that we managed to complete the restructuring, which we believe is in the interest of the sustainable success of Lightyear, taking into account the interests of its stakeholders. The whole team and many of our stakeholders have worked hard to make this possible. I would like to explicitly thank all of them.

The new company was made possible by some Lightyear’s largest investors, including SHV, DELA, Eikenbosch Holding, Invest-NL, BOM, and LIOF in addition to IIG mentioned above. The goal now is to continue to limit damage done to creditors that led to the bankruptcy filing.

With the successful restructuring and a new round of funding, Lightyear states it can once again trek forward with a focus on the aforementioned Lightyear 2 solar EV, but it will need to raise additional funding to succeed.

In the meantime, bankruptcy administrator Reinoud van Oeijen said some of the company’s stocks will be sold in the near future and will include the sale of the few Lightyear 0 demo vehicles that were built. Later this month, there will be a special online auction to raise money to pay back the creditors. It will be preceded by a viewing day on April 19, when interested parties can come and see the solar EVs in person. Van Oeijen spoke:

We have tried to represent the interests of employees from the Netherlands and abroad as well as possible. At the same time, we also tried to limit the damage to the creditors as much as possible. This way, there was a chance of a restart.

It was a complex issue we were facing with many stakeholders. Fortunately, the restart has been achieved within a reasonable short period of time and everyone now has clarity.

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Save big on heat pumps and solar before Washington pulls the plug

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Save big on heat pumps and solar before Washington pulls the plug

Three years after the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) became law, Rewiring America is rolling out a new effort to make sure homeowners don’t miss out on major savings.

The Save on Better Appliances campaign is designed to help families take advantage of federal energy tax credits before they expire at the end of 2025, while also showing how modern electric appliances can cut long-term energy costs.

With utility bills climbing, the group is highlighting the benefits of heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, rooftop solar, and other upgrades that can keep homes comfortable while protecting against future price spikes. For many households, energy-efficient appliances are one of the few ways to bring bills under control – and that value remains even after federal incentives are gone.

Right now, homeowners can still access the federal Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit (25C) and Residential Clean Energy Credit (25D). On top of that, thousands of state, local, and utility-level incentives are available to help offset upfront costs.

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Ari Matusiak, CEO of Rewiring America, pointed out that the IRA incentives were never meant to last forever:

Congress’s decision to repeal them prematurely means households should act fast. But the savings, comfort, and long-term value of these upgrades remain. For homeowners ready to act, we have the tools to help. And for those who need more time, we’re working to expand your options and ensure that these upgrades make financial sense whenever the moment is right.

What the campaign offers

The Save on Better Appliances campaign runs through October and includes:

  • A central hub where homeowners can learn about the expiring credits, check out state, local, and utility incentives, and connect with vetted contractors.
  • Weekly Zoom drop-in sessions with Certified Electric Coaches, starting September 3, to answer questions about home upgrades.
  • Contractor tools, including Rewiring America’s Contractor Finder, soon to be integrated with the BetterHVAC directory for more trusted installer options.
  • A new Single-Project Personal Electrification Planner to help homeowners map out common projects like heat pumps, energy audits, and electrical upgrades.

“I’ve been doing HVAC installations for the past 40 years, and I can tell you that I’ve seen firsthand how the 25C tax credit has made heat pumps, the most efficient HVAC technology, more affordable and accessible for homeowners,” said Scotty Libby, owner of Maine-based Royal River Heat Pumps. “Homeowners should talk to their local contractors now if they want to upgrade their HVAC, take advantage of the tax credit, and lock in the potential long-term energy savings a heat pump would provide.”

Beyond tax credits

Rewiring America is also working with manufacturers, contractors, and lenders to make upgrades more affordable, even without federal help. In Rhode Island and Colorado, families can already access specially priced heat pump packages, with more states on the way. These deals will expand in 2026 and beyond, lowering upfront costs no matter what happens in Washington.

Across the country, state agencies, utilities, and local nonprofits are already leading creative programs to help families save money, find trusted contractors, and begin electrifying their homes. Rewiring America says this campaign is about amplifying that work and making it easier for households to take the first step.

“Tax credits may expire, but the benefits of better HVAC – lower bills, healthier homes, and lasting comfort – are here to stay. That’s why we’re supporting Rewiring America’s campaign,” said Bill Spohn, Sr., president of the Better HVAC Alliance.

Read more: US EV sales stay strong, but looming tariffs threaten affordability


The 30% federal solar tax credit is ending this year. If you’ve ever considered going solar, now’s the time to act. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them. 

Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.

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Scientist exposes anti-wind groups as oil-funded. Now they want to silence him.

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Scientist exposes anti-wind groups as oil-funded. Now they want to silence him.

Oil-funded groups are engaging in strategic harassment to stop scientists from revealing the nature of their politically-linked disinformation networks – in what should be a surprise to nobody.

A new report came out last week from the Climate & Development Lab (CDL) at Brown University, titled “Legal Entanglements: Mapping Connections of Anti-Offshore Wind Groups and their Lawyers in the Eastern United States.”

The study focuses on several examples of law firms with connections to anti-wind groups, the fossil fuel industry, and the American political right wing. These fossil-funded groups have spread disinformation to slow the adoption of clean and cheap wind power, in order to keep America addicted to the poison that the fossil fuel industry wants to keep selling us.

The lab is headed by J Timmons Roberts, but the research was done by various students and faculty at at the lab. The new report builds on former research by the CDL cataloguing extensive connections between these groups and the dark money networks that fund the anti-wind movement.

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Why the East Coast needs offshore wind

Offshore wind, especially in the North Atlantic, is a cheap and abundant form of energy that is heretofore relatively untapped in the US. It also has very little environmental cost, given that its carbon emissions and land use are both zero, and wind tends to be quite consistent over the ocean, making it more reliable as a power source.

Many other countries have successfully implemented offshore wind projects to bring this cheap and clean power to their populaces, with particular booms in China, the UK, Vietnam, Germany and several other Northern European countries (like Denmark, where many large wind power companies are based).

And wind is important for the global transition to renewable energy and the fight against climate change. As a zero-emission power source, it’s essential for meeting the US East Coast’s climate and renewable energy goals, and could provide a huge chunk of the power needs for the entire US Eastern seaboard, where the country’s population is clustered.

However, offshore wind has recently encountered setbacks due to the spread of disinformation from fossil-funded networks, which has made its way into the popular conception and into right-wing politics. (Nevertheless, Americans of all political stripes still support greater deployment of offshore wind)

How and why fossil fuel companies oppose wind

Fossil fuel companies oppose wind power because it would help to wean America off of fossil fuels, displacing coal and methane generation for electricity and enabling greater electrification of the vehicle fleet to wean us off of oil. All of these would result in air quality improvements, cost reductions, health improvements and avoidance of climate change – which are all anathema to the most deadly industry the world has ever seen.

So, fossil fuel companies have developed and funded a complicated network of fake public interest groups, politicians and lawyers to oppose wind power by spreading disinformation. And the CDL’s report highlights how certain legal firms have received funding from fossil fuel companies and/or given support to these fake public interest groups in attempts to sue wind projects out of existence.

While many of these lawsuits have been unsuccessful, they can still add delays to a project, making it more expensive and slower to deploy (which then makes your electricity more expensive). In some cases, the delays can result in project cancellation, like when oil billionaire William Koch sued Cape Wind out of existence via a fake public interest group called the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound.

In the report, five specific legal networks are highlighted in particular, showing how each is related to fossil fuels and science denial. The networks have provided representation, written comments, filed lawsuits and otherwise spread disinformation in an attempt to stop the public good that offshore wind power represents.

The nature of the disinformation

The disinformation largely focuses on the North Atlantic Right Whale, a whale whose population is currently experiencing an “unusual mortality event” due to changing climate and Atlantic shipping and fishing.

Anti-wind groups have invoked laws like the Endangers Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act, despite the fact that the products of the industry they are funded by are the deadliest thing for marine life.

Burning oil raises both the temperature and acidity of our oceans, disrupting marine ecosystems in profound ways. For example, North Atlantic krill populations have dropped by 50% due to ocean warming driven by fossil fuel use. Krill are the main food source for the North Atlantic Right Whale, which anti-wind groups claim to be interested in protecting, but are in fact aiding the decline of.

Further, whale populations are directly harmed by vessel strikes, which are the leading direct cause of death for North Atlantic Right Whales in recent years. And 29% of those vessels are carrying oil across the globe – shipments that would be unnecessary if transportation were powered by clean renewable energy instead of deadly oil. Not only that, but some of the exact same groups that oppose wind also opposed draft regulations to reduce vessel strikes, showing that they are actually interested in continuing to harm whales, not protecting them.

Law firm responds to the truth by pressuring university to hide it

One of the law firms highlighted in the report, Marzulla Law, sent a letter threatening its authors. Marzulla Law said it would complain to Brown’s funding sources, including the US Department of Energy which a former oil executive is currently squatting as the head of, in an attempt to get the entirety of Brown University’s funding pulled if the CDL doesn’t self-censor its research findings.

The CDL itself is not funded by the Department of Energy, Roberts said to Bloomberg, so the threat isn’t even related to CDL’s funding sources, but to Brown University’s as a whole.

Marzulla Law represented one of the disinformation groups which the CDL has highlighted before, the deceptively-named “Green Oceans.” Green Oceans opposed the Revolution Wind project, which was halted on Friday over fake national security concerns by a convicted felon who is Constitutionally barred from holding office in the US, despite the project already being 80% finished, costing the US billions in waste and increased utility bills.

Mike Herr, a spokesman for Green Oceans said “these oft-repeated lies are designed to discredit the messenger while preventing the public from absorbing the substance of our valid and well-researched concerns,” which is itself an example of the very thing he’s wrongly accusing the researchers of.

Herr’s organization lies about offshore wind, and their attack on science (through their law firm) is designed to discredit the messenger while preventing the public from absorbing the substance of valid and well-researched concerns: the connection between fossil fuels, the republican party, and disinformation that keeps us from embracing superior forms of cheaper, cleaner energy like wind.

Discrediting science and knowledge is increasingly becoming a feature of the American right wing, which is currently on a crusade against universities as it tries to make America stupider.

Roberts called Marzulla’s response “strategic harassment to shut me up and waste my time and make me more cautious,” which is a common reaction faced by truth-tellers in this day and age, particularly when funding from the largest and most deadly industry on the planet, which has repeatedly shown its interest in propaganda, is involved.

For its part, Brown University did not comment on Marzulla’s demands, but did state that “Scholars shape their own research and course of instruction at Brown. One principle that is core to research at Brown is the ability for scholars to discuss contested topics and themes and to have those topics openly debated.”

However, Brown is one of the universities which recently kowtowed to the idiotic demands of an inept moron, making its words about academic independence ring somewhat hollow. We’ll have to see if they step up to defend truth this time around, or bow the knee to one of the dumbest people on the planet once again.


The 30% federal solar tax credit is ending this year. If you’ve ever considered going solar, now’s the time to act. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.

Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.

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The Cadillac Optiq vs other electric SUVs: Who’s got the most rear cargo space?

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The Cadillac Optiq vs other electric SUVs: Who's got the most rear cargo space?

The Optiq is Cadillac’s most affordable electric SUV, and it’s already winning over drivers from other brands. Cadillac claims the new entry-level Optiq EV has “segment-best” rear cargo space, but how does it compare to other popular electric SUVs?

Cadillac Optiq EV SUV cargo space comparison

Cadillac has become the “luxury EV leader” in the US, according to GM’s CEO Mary Barra. However, that doesn’t include Tesla, apparently due to its “pricing structure,” a company spokesperson clarified.

In the second quarter, Cadillac was the leading luxury electric vehicle brand by market share and ranked fifth overall.

Cadillac’s surging presence in the luxury EV space is thanks to its growing lineup of electric SUVs. The company now offers an electric model in every segment, including the entry-level Optiq, midsize Lyriq, three-row Vistiq, and even bigger Escalade IQ and IQL.

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According to Barra, nearly 80% of Optiq buyers are new to the brand. The low starting price of under $55,000, over 300 miles of driving range, and tech-heavy interior are big draws. However, the Cadillac Optiq also delivers several “segment-best” features, including rear cargo space.

Cadillac-Optiq-cargo-space
Cadillac Optiq “segment-best” rear cargo area (Source: Cadillac)

How much space does the Optiq really have? To see how it stacks up, Edmunds put it to the test. GM says the 2025 Cadillac Optiq has segment-leading 26 cubic feet of rear cargo space.

The Optiq is smaller than the Lyriq, which has 28 cu ft. It offers about the same amount of space as the Chevy Equinox and Blazer EVs and other electric SUVs priced similarly.

Compared to the Hyundai IONIQ 5, Edmunds said the Optiq offers a more functional rear luggage space thanks to its open design.

Cadillac-Optiq-cargo-space
Cadillac Optiq rear cargo area with seats folded flat (Source: GM)

Like other GM’s other electric SUVs, the Optiq offers an underfloor storage space. However, it is the smallest one in the group.

Although the Optiq “seems to be the worst,” among GM’s other electric SUVs, Edmunds added, it was “only a teensy bit so compared to the Equinox and Blazer EVs.” The Lyriq, on the other hand, offered considerably more space, as expected from a bigger, more premium EV.

Electric SUV Rear Cargo Volume
(cubic feet)
Cadillac Optiq 26
Chevy Equinox EV 26.4
Chevy Blazer EV 25.5
Hyundai IONIQ 5 27.2
Tesla Model Y 29
Cadillac Lyriq 28
Cadillac Optiq vs other electric SUVs rear cargo space comparison

Compared to luxury rivals, it offers much more space than the Audi Q4 E-tron, but significantly less than the Mercedes-Benz EQB. It’s closer to that of the Hyundai IONIQ 6 or Kia EV6.

The 2025 Cadillac Optiq starts at $54,390 and offers up to 302 miles of driving range. At 190″ in length, 75″ in width, and 65″ in height, the Cadillac Optiq is about the same size as the Tesla Model Y (187″ in length x 76″ in width x 64″ in height).

Cadillac-Optiq-EV
2025 Cadillac Optiq EV (Source: Cadillac)

Cadillac is currently offering Optiq leases as low as $439 per month for 24 months for those with a competitive luxury brand vehicle.

Like most deals, this one will end at the end of September, which is when the $7,500 federal EV tax credit is also set to expire.

If you’re looking to try one for yourself, you can use one of our links below to find deals on electric vehicles in your area.

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