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Sono Motors this week unveiled the final production design of the Scion EV, which has been powered by solar electricity since its Munich-based startup launched in 2016.
It’s been a long and bumpy road for Sono Motors, a journey that has included two crowdfunding campaigns, near bankruptcy and as a publicly traded company on the Nasdaq exchange.
The fruits of those many messy labors were on display at the vibrant “Celebrate the Sun” community event. At Sion, the solar-powered EV took center stage. However, another product called the Solar Bus Kit, a series of solar panels designed to be mounted on 12m public buses, suggests the company has much bigger plans than just a single passenger vehicle.
Of course, the question is, can Sono Motors manufacture and sell EVs with audio? And how?
Sono aims to deliver the Scion to customers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in the second half of 2023. The company did not give guidance on how many Sions will be issued next year. The only benchmark it shared was that it expects to produce 43,000 Scions with a production capacity of 257,000 per year within seven years, according to a company spokesperson.
However, even the most well-funded EV startups have had trouble getting into production recently. Sono has had to contend with various challenges since its launch in November last year, with a falling stock price, shifting to manufacturing partners and the current market and supply chain uncertainty, the road to production and supply may continue to be bumpy.
Let’s break down what this company is doing:
Sion’s latest product design
The Scion consists of 456 integrated solar half-cells that harvest energy from the sun and enable self-sufficiency on short trips. Image Credits: They are motors.
The Sion is a compact five-door family-friendly hatchback that retails for €25,126 (~$25,628 in today’s change). The outer shell consists of 456 integrated solar half-cells that harvest energy from the sun and enable self-sufficiency on short trips. Of course, the vehicle will still use a traditional charger for refueling, but a constant trickle of solar power should be enough to take care of most urban commuters, the company says.
The car’s 54 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery has a range of around 190 miles. Sono expects the power generated by the solar cells to extend the range by an average of 70 miles and up to 152 miles per week. In addition, Sion is built with two-way charging technology, which allows travelers to use the energy stored in the battery (~ 11 kW) to power their homes or other electronic devices.
Other improvements to the exterior and interior of the final design include a sleek and clean looking vehicle, Sono said.
The exterior features new headlights including a new daytime running light strip, taillights, rear camera, lower side design and a redesigned charging lid. Photos show there are also new door handles with the words “Made to Share” – a sign of Sono’s hopes for this car to make it onto fleets.
Sono said that the paid position has reached more than 19,000, which was 13,000 last November. This means that if all reservations result in sales, the net sales volume could be 415 million euros. With an average advance payment of 2,225, Sono could have more than 42 million euros in the bank to help it get to production.
(By the way, if those numbers — 19,000 x €25,126 — don’t add up, that’s because the Scion’s price has changed over time and early backers have been grandfathered back to their original price, says a company spokesperson.)
To reduce costs, Sono Motors has outsourced its vehicle manufacturing and distribution. Earlier, Sono In 2012, it planned to partner with Swedish EV maker NEVS, which owned the assets of Saab Automobile, which went bankrupt. But NEVS parent company Evergrande is in debt and is still trying to sell NEVS its Saab 9-3 to production.
Solar bus kit
The Sono Solar Bus Kit consists of 8 square meters of solar panels that produce 1.4 kW at peak load. Image Credits: They are motors.
While the Sono Solar Bus Kit may not convert a diesel-powered bus into an eco-friendly hybrid, it can take some of the emissions out of the equation.
The kit, which is standardized to work on “virtually all European bus fleets”, can save up to 1,500 liters of diesel and up to 4 tonnes of CO2 per year, the company says. With a total area of 8 square meters, the solar panels provide 1.4 kilowatts when installed at the highest level. That solar energy can be used to power bus subsystems such as HVAC.
Bus fleet operators stand to see a payback period of three to four years, depending on weekday sunshine and fuel prices, Sono said.
At CES 2021, Sono said it will license its solar cell technology to other companies as an additional revenue stream, and this new bus kit is part of that move to expand its business.
Since going public, Sono says it has ongoing letters of intent, pilots and prototypes for 19 companies applying the company’s solar technology to various vehicle architectures such as buses, trailers, trucks and electric vans. For example, Sono recently piloted a solar bus trailer in Munich to provide backup power for public transport. Sono has partnered with Reefer Group, a refrigerated semi-trailer manufacturer, to build a trial solar trailer.
The company revealed during the company’s earnings call in September that its B2B solar business is already generating revenue. Sono’s stock has tumbled since the start, losing nearly 93% of its value, so the company will need to find another source of revenue next year as it ramps up production.
Why Sono stock has taken a hit
When Sono Motors’ parent company, Sono Group, began trading, the IPO opened at $20.06 after initially trading at $15. Shares rose to $38.74 before the market closed on the first day. At the time of writing, Sono Group is trading at $2.64, a slide that has continued even after the company revealed the production version of the Scion.
It looks like the frenzy around EV startups is starting to die down.
In May, Sono closed a previously announced follow-on offering of 10 million common shares, with an additional 1.5 million shares to the underwriters — including Cantor Fitzgerald and B. Riley Securities — at a higher discount.
Sono said it received $40 million in gross proceeds from the offering, which would have been used to fund the launch of the Scion product, but investors may see the offering as more devaluing of the shares.
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