The developers of the Lightyear solar-powered car have been given six months to find fresh source capital for a restart of the project.

Helmond-based Atlas Technologies was declared bankrupt in January after its investors said they were no longer prepared to pump cash into the project, with the loss of 620 jobs.

Administrator Reinoud van Oeijen last week approved a restart of the company, saying it represented the best chance of finding new investors.

He said the company had enough capital to keep going for six months to a year, but it will need to find around €1 billion to develop the Lightyear 2 car, the successor to the abandoned Lightyear 0.

‘This restart has bought them time to find new financial backers. Now they need to make sure it happens,’ said Van Oeijen.

Lightyear will restart as a new company, with a small number of the old company’s workers and the rights to its intellectual property, as well as Lightyear Layer, the subsidiary responsible for developing solar cell technology.

Van Oeijen will continue investigating the reasons for the company’s failure in January and has not ruled out taking measures against its managers.