8x Local car makers: from DAF to Lightyear

Thanks to TU/e’s student teams, the culture of innovative automakers is back in Eindhoven. Together with other startups, they are experimenting with mobility of the future. Want to know what to expect on the road in the coming years? We have listed eight initiatives for you.

Lightyear

This ambitious startup is building a brand new car that will run on solar energy. With solar panels processed in the roof. The company is a spin-off from the TU/e and now employs over a hundred people. The prototype of the first long-range solar car will be unveiled on 25 June 2019.

The five founders are all alumni of the Solar Team Eindhoven, the TU/e student team that became world champion several times during the World Solar Challenge in Australia.

SPIKE

Another TU/e spin-off. It all started with student team STORM, that went viral in 2016. The students were the first to drive around the world with a self-built electric motorcycle in 80 days. Now they are applying this knowledge in a new company. SPIKE develops modular battery packs for manufacturers of specific vehicles, such as motorcycles, scooters, tuk-tuks and smaller cars.

Amber

Amber is a platform for car sharing. Three TU/e students founded the startup a few years ago and nowadays facilitates tens of thousands of rides a year. Actually, the TU/ers wanted to design a fully electric shared car themselves, but that turned out to be a bit too ambitious. Now they work with electric BMW's i3, not bad either! If you drive with Amber, the company guarantees that there will always be a car available for you when you need one.

InMotion

A student team with a big goal: to participate in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2023 with their self-built electric racing car. One of the biggest obstacles to electric driving is the charging time. These TU/e and Fontys students therefore want to drastically reduce the charging time, so that charging does not have to take longer than fueling your car at the gas station. They want to showcase their innovative fast charging technology to the world in a few years' time at the famous Le Mans car race.

URE

Same university, different racing car :-) The URE student team focuses on that other burning issue when it comes to mobility of the future: autonomous driving. The team is currently building their own electric, self-driving racing car. Their goal: to gain new knowledge in the field of design, engineering and production, and to participate in the international competition of the Formula Student.

ATeam

TU/e student team ATeam, together with students from Fontys University of Applied Sciences, also focuses on the technology behind autonomous and cooperative vehicles. The president of Singapore experienced what this looks like when she visited High Tech Campus Eindhoven.

TU/ecomotive

TU/e student team that works on recyclable cars. Their 'Noah' is the world's first full circular car. The blue two-seater is a small city car that could also be used as a shared car. The body, chassis and interior are made entirely of bio-based materials, such as sugar and flax.

DAF

The mother of all vehicle start-ups, of course. Almost a hundred years ago two brothers started selling semi-trailers and trailers in Eindhoven. In 1932 they named the company DAF and since then they have produced all kinds of vehicles, from passenger cars and tanks to trolleys and racing cars. Nowadays DAF has fully embraced the truck and is one of the world market leaders. The company is still very dedicated to innovation. DAF is experimenting with truck platooning, in which several trucks are connected wirelessly to drive a short distance apart. This results in less fuel consumption and more safety on the road.