Sono Motors says it will have to stop development of the Sion solar car without additional money
Sono Motors says it is short of money and may have to discontinue the development of the Sion solar car. That is why the company has started a campaign with which it hopes to receive thousands of down payments for the Sion in order to start production.
The company is now building pre-production models of the Sion to make the electric car suitable for public roads, but says he needs extra money to complete development and put the car into production. Sono Motors says investors no longer want to invest in the company due to the current conditions in the financial markets. In addition, the energy crisis and pandemic would also have had an impact on the viability of the company.
Sono Motors has therefore started a campaign in which the German company hopes that private individuals and companies will prepay for 3,500 solar cars. The company says it has 21,000 reservations for that car. The solar car costs 29,900 euros; Sono Motors hopes to raise around 100 million euros with the campaign. Customers can also choose to make a smaller down payment, donate or lend the company money. Payments will only be accepted if the campaign is successful, Sono Motors says.
If enough money is raised, Sono Motors expects to be able to gain investor confidence and raise more money. In addition, the company says it will have enough cash in hand to put the car into production in 2024 and, among other things, to pay for the required equipment.
If the campaign is not successful, the company says it will have to stop the development of Sion and focus on other solar energy products. For example, the company works with bus manufacturers to fit the roofs of electric buses with solar panels. The company would have enough money for this.
The Sion is an electric hatchback with hundreds of solar panels on the roof, hood and doors, among other things. According to Sono Motors, these could provide an average of 112 km of range per week. The car also has a 54kWh battery with a range of 305 kilometers, supports bidirectional charging and can be charged to 80 percent within 35 minutes. While other EV manufacturers such as Lightyear first focus on expensive luxury models with a higher margin in order to finance cheaper cars, Sono Motors immediately focused on those cheaper cars.