The Sono Sion solar vehicle project goes into the dark, although the company seeks to sell it
Germany’s Sono Motors announced Friday that it will “terminate the Sion passenger car program”, effective immediately, and will instead focus on solar energy solutions.
Buried in the announcement is a glimmer of hope for those who want to see the affordable solar car hit the market: Sono plans to sell its Sion program.
The Sono Sion has been scheduled to start production in Finland in the second half of 2023, with an announced price tag of $25,000, including EU incentives. It was an outstanding idea and a potentially disruptive product from the start because it was aimed at employers. Each body panel as a solar panel.
Location of solar panels for electric car Sono Sion
Sono started operations in 2016 and raised more than $600,000 claiming it could bring a “family-friendly car” with solar power up to 25 miles a day for sale. market for about $18,000. Sion has done Prototype launch in 2018, with a limited edition production appeared a year later. The car was originally manufactured in Trollhättan, Sweden.
Through that and some advanced technology to capture the very low voltage coming from the solar cells most of the time, Sono claims that solar power can deliver up to 152 miles per week—more about 190 miles from my LFP battery pack. It also configures the Sion for two-way charging technology and the ability to make it mobile. home-electricity bank.
Sono hasn’t given a completely clear picture of why it dropped the show so close to its launch, but funding is the obvious answer. It points to “regressive capital market conditions” and “the resource-intensive nature of the Sion program.” The company is laying off about 300 employees as part of the decision.
Sono Sion and city bus solar kit
Sono has said that its solar solutions, including a solar retrofit kit for semi and bus, will allow it to enter the US, European and Asian markets. Sono will face costly regulatory hurdles as it tries to bring its passenger vehicles to those markets. Last year, it toured the US with that technology, focusing on fleet operators.
“Fleet operators can benefit from the integration of Sono Motors technology to save fuel, costs and CO2, thereby contributing to the fight against climate change by reducing carbon emissions. greenhouse,” the company explains, pointing out that it already has 23 customers for the technology.
With this change, Sono announced that they are transitioning to a “lightweight” business model, as 90% of their capital in 2023 is related to the Sion program.
The company has already produced 18 vehicles as part of its mass validation program, and it says it’s “proof that the concept of a solar-powered vehicle (SEV) works”.
New Sono earlier this month announced that they have completed a number of Sion’s crash testreported that the tables “behave as expected” during a collision.
Sono Sion crash test
Reservations have continued to be made. Just last summer, Sono reported that they had reached 20,000 pre-orders; on Friday, it reported 45,000 reservations. Along with that is the 12,000 claimed pre-orders from auto subscription company Finn and the 9,800 “partially paid pre-orders” the company previously reported.
Sono isn’t the only solar vehicle project that has struggled recently. Lightyear based in the Netherlands last month Stop producing solar electric vehicle Lightyear 0 about financial difficulties and what appeared to be a bankruptcy. Lightyear claims it will be the world’s first manufactured solar car. Instead, it turned to a new company to track Lightyear 2.
