The Lightyear 0 is a family sedan with 5 sq m (53.8 sq ft) of solar panels built in, capable of generating up to 70 km (44 miles) of charge-free driving a day.

Having scaled its workforce up to 500 people and hooked up deals with more than 100 suppliers, Lightyear is deadly serious about this venture and ready to start manufacturing. Its first car is this four-door fastback electric sedan, with enough onboard battery to deliver a very solid 560 km (348 miles) of freeway driving at 110 km/h (68 mph), even without the sun shining.

That's a pretty impressive number; in WLTP testing, the Lightyear 0 delivers 625 km (388 miles) of range, or nearly 4 percent more than Tesla's Model 3 Long Range AWD. Lightyear says it's developed the most efficient electric drivetrain ever, and that these range figures come from a battery pack holding just 60 kWh. For comparison, the Model 3 Long Range AWD is reported to run an 82-kWh pack.

So even if that WLTP range is a fair way short of what the company was hoping for during high-speed testing back in February, the Lightyear still pulls more range out of significantly less battery than the Tesla, using just 10.5 kWh per 100 km (62 miles) while doing 110 km/h on the highway. Part of this comes down to low drag; Lightyear says the 0's drag coefficient of 0.19 makes it the most aerodynamic family car ever built. Part of it comes from specially developed Bridgestone tires designed to reduce rolling resistance.

But part of it also comes from a deliberate focus on efficiency at the expense of performance: the 0 takes a full 10 seconds to accelerate from 0-100 km/h, and will top out at just 160 km/h (99 mph). Tesla has trained us to expect hair-raising acceleration, and the Model 3 Long Range AWD can get you to 100 in four seconds flat on the way to a top speed of 233 km/h (145 mph). Lightyear has no interest in playing these games. It'll feel flat-out slow next to a Tesla.

But it'll spend far less time on a charger. Solar panels can't give you a full battery charge on a sunny day, but they can certainly make a contribution – and here's where Lightyear's efficiency-first approach pays off. Under ideal conditions, the solar panels covering the hood and the fastback roof can chip in up to 1.05 kW of constant trickle charging.