E-Auto Sion is discontinued! Focus on B2B solar business
It is a major setback for the German electric car industry. The Munich manufacturer Sono Motors has to stop production of the solar e-car Sion completely due to financial problems. The company is shifting its focus to the B2B solar business.
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Solar-E-Auto Sion is discontinued
It had been hinted at for a few months, now it is bitter reality: the solar e-car Sion from the Munich company Sono Motors will be discontinued with immediate effect. All pre-orders have been canceled and the money gradually returned.
That’s what the two founders, Laurin Hahn and Jona Christians, did together press release known. This brings one of the most innovative German projects in the field of e-mobility to an abrupt end.
A range of 30 kilometers just from the sun’s rays – every day
In the fall of 2017, Sono Motors caused a stir with its idea of launching a solar car – i.e. an electric car with a battery and over 330 individual cells.
The idea behind it: Every day, owners can increase their range by more than 30 kilometers without an explicit charge just from the sun’s rays and diffuse light. In combination with a battery and an intelligent charging infrastructure based around an app, the perfect small city car of the future was created.
The solar technology behind it has also constantly improved. In addition to the sale of Sion, it is even the central business area of Sono Motors.
Rising costs and financing problems seal the end of Sion
And from now on, the solar mobility solutions are also the sole business model of the Munich company. Because the Sion program is history.
According to the two co-founders, 90 percent of the company’s total capital requirements flowed into Sion production. Since it has also become increasingly difficult and expensive for start-ups to obtain new investment funds on the capital market, the decision was made.
Sono Motors focuses on B2B solar solutions in the automotive industry
The team headed by Laurin Hahn and Jona Christians intends “in future to concentrate exclusively on retrofitting and integrating solar technology into third-party vehicles,” according to the announcement.
Co-founder Hahn adds:
Even if we had to abandon our original heart project with the Sion program, shifting our entire focus to B2B solar solutions gives us the opportunity to continue developing innovative products in the solar industry. Despite the more than 45,000 reservations and pre-orders for the Sion, we were forced to react to the ongoing instability of the financial markets and streamline our business. This decision was not easy for us.
Sono Motors is already working as a development and cooperation partner for automotive groups such as Mitsubishi, Scania and MAN Truck. The company is therefore changing from a manufacturer to a service provider.
Rescue operation #SaveSion fails
As recently as December 2022, Sono Motors made a last, desperate appeal on social media to collect the money needed to continue Sion production.
In total, the #SaveSion campaign should have resulted in more than 3,500 reservations with deposits of 3,000 euros in 50 days, which would later have been guaranteed as a discount. That didn’t work and thus sealed the end of Sion and the solar e-car from Munich.
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