Dutch solar powered car maker Lightyear has signed a deal with international car lease company Arval to provide it with 10,000 of its second edition vehicles.

The agreement means the Helmond-based firm has now signed orders for 21,000 of its Lightyear 2 cars, which are due to go into production in 2025. Car lease firm Leaseplan and rental platform MyWheels earlier agreed contracts for 5,000 cars and a waiting list for consumers opened earlier this month.

The family car is expected to cost around €40,000 at current prices and the company says it is sticking with earlier pledges that the car will have ‘more accessible’ pricing than its competitors.

The Lightyear 2 will have a range of 800 kilometres and will be partly powered by solar panels in its roof and hood. As yet it is unclear where the cars will be produced. The Lightyear 0, which costs €250,000, is being built in Finland.

The company was launched in 2016 and the five founders are all alumni of Eindhoven University efforts at the World Solar Challenge in Australia.

Since then Lightyear has generated €200 million in investment capital from regional development funds and other investors, such as SHV. Last July, Swedish sports car maker Koenigsegg also invested an unknown sum in the company.