Sono Motors

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sono Motors GmbH
TypeGmbH
Nasdaq: SEV
ISINNL0015000N74
IndustryAutomotive
FoundedKarben, 2016
Founders

Headquarters
Munich
,
Germany
Key people
,
CEO
Websitesonomotors.com

Sono Motors GmbH is a German company working on the development of the electric solar car Sono Sion. A special feature of the vehicle designed by the company is solar cells embedded in the plastic body panels on both the roof and the sides. The electricity generated is fed into the traction battery and is said to be sufficient as an energy source for more than 5,000 kilometers per year. Sono Motors has been licensing this technology for use in buses and trucks since 2021.[1][2]

History[]

Prototype of the Sono Sion (2017)

Sono Motors was founded by Laurin Hahn, Navina Pernsteiner and Jona Christians in Karben, Hesse, in January 2016.[3] A crowdfunding campaign on the internet platform Indiegogo served to finance the company. Still in its founding year, the company succeeded in securing funding for two functional prototypes. These were developed and built by according to Sono's specifications, and were presented to the public in July 2017. During presentation tours through various European countries, interested parties were able to learn about the special features of the car and the mobility concept and take short test drives with the functional prototypes.[4]

In October 2018, Sono Motors raised new equity and debt capital in another financing round.[5] At that time, the start of production of the vehicle was announced as the fourth quarter of 2019. In March 2019, the company finally presented the (later modified) series design of the Sion and announced the series manufacturer of its vehicle on April 17, 2019. It would be produced by NEVS at the Trollhättan site in Sweden. Saab's former production facility is being reactivated there.[6] Over an eight-year period, 260,000 vehicles are expected to roll off the production line there. According to Sono Motors, the company had 10,000 paid reservations for the Sion across Europe as of May 2019, up from around 13,000 in January 2020.[7]

On December 1, 2019, the founders of Sono Motors stated that they had not been able to obtain the necessary funds through the usual financing route. If they had accepted the terms of the potential investors, they would have had to abandon their own principles and lose the rights to their patents to the investors. The Sono Sion would thus never have reached public roads in the way envisaged. Therefore, the founders returned to the original way of financing, crowdfunding.[8] Through new reservations with down payments of at least €500, increases in the down payment of orders already placed, donations and letters of intent to grant investment loans, Sono Motors aimed to raise €50 million by December 30, 2019. By the deadline set, around €32.5 million had been non-bindingly pledged, after which the deadline was extended to January 20, 2020, and €53.3 million in pledges were eventually reached.[7]

In October 2021, Sono Motors filed for an initial public offering on the American technology exchange NASDAQ.[9] On November 17, 2021, Sono Group N.V., the Dutch registered parent company of Sono Motors GmbH, went public on NASDAQ. Sono Motors was thus able to raise approximately US$135 million and avert the threat of insolvency.[10]

Vehicles[]

Sono Sion[]

Main article: Sono Motors Sion

The Sono Sion is the first vehicle to be developed by Sono Motors. It is an electric car that, in addition to charging via the power grid with Type 2 and CCS plugs, will also be charged by solar modules integrated into the body. This is expected to generate up to 34 kilometers of additional range per day.[11] The Sono Sion was originally scheduled to go into production in 2019. In June 2021, the start of production was postponed until early 2023.[12]

References[]

  1. ^ "MAN will Solarzellen von Sono Motors auf Transporter bauen". www.golem.de. Retrieved 2021-10-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ Raskatov, Valentin (2021-04-18). "Das deutsche Solarauto "Sion" will nun auch LKW und Busse erobern". SNA (in German). Retrieved 2021-10-27.
  3. ^ Visser, Corinna (2017-09-10). "Laurin Hahn von Sono Motors: "Wir wollen Elektromobilität für alle"". BerlinValley (in German). Retrieved 2021-10-27.
  4. ^ Unveiling the Sion | Release Event | Sono Motors, retrieved 2021-10-27
  5. ^ "Sono Motors startet weitere Finanzierungsrunde". Edison - Heimat der Generation E (in German). 2018-10-18. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
  6. ^ "Sono Motors produziert Sion in Schweden". Sono Motors (in German). 2019-04-17. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
  7. ^ a b "Sono Motors schließt Community-Funding-Kampagne mit 53.342.998 Euro ab". ecomento.de (in German). 2020-01-21. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
  8. ^ Berger, Konstantin (2019-12-02). "Startup wollte mit Solarzellen-E-Auto den Markt aufmischen — und kämpft jetzt ums Überleben". Business Insider (in German). Retrieved 2021-10-27.
  9. ^ magazin, manager. "Sono Motors: Münchener Solarauto-Firma beantragt US-Börsengang". www.manager-magazin.de (in German). Retrieved 2021-10-27.
  10. ^ online, heise. "Sono Motors kann bei Börsengang rund 135 Millionen US-Dollar erlösen". heise online (in German). Retrieved 2022-01-10.
  11. ^ "Der Sion - das Auto, das sich selbst lädt". Sono Motors (in German). Retrieved 2021-10-27.
  12. ^ Geiger, Thomas (2021-06-24). "Sono Motors Sion: Dieses Auto fährt mit der Kraft der Sonne". Der Spiegel (in German). ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
Retrieved from ""