More than 13,000 individual reservations and payments have been placed on the Munich-based mobility provider Sono Motors’ Solar Electric Vehicle (SEV)
Munich – The mobility provider Sono Motors has announced the achievement of reaching 13,000 private reservations of its innovative Sion SEV (Solar Electric Vehicle), with an average down-payment of 3,000 euros. Even prior to the commencement of production, the company booked a total order value of 278 million euros. Pre-orders of the Sion continue to be predominantly placed in Germany and the DACH (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) region, but the company is also registering increasing numbers from countries such as Italy, Spain, Portugal, Finland and Mauritius. This interactive map shows the geographical distribution of the reservations made. It was created and published by the Sono Motors community itself.
“13,000 reservations is a clear sign for us, as well as for the entire automotive industry. This number highlights people’s need for resource-friendly and affordable mobility solutions,” emphasizes Jona Christians, CEO and co-founder of Sono Motors, “It also gives us tailwind to get the Sion on the road as quickly as possible”, he adds.
After planned production commencement in 2023 and the increase to maximum capacity within the same year, the company intends to produce 43,000 vehicles per year in a 2-shift operation, in collaboration with contract manufacturer NEVS. The total production volume is expected to be 257,000 vehicles over a seven-year period. The former SAAB factory in Trollhättan, Sweden, will serve as the production facility.
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About
Sono Motors is on a mission to enable a revolutionary mobility system, where every electric vehicle is solar, shared, and independent from fossil-fuels. Today, an experienced specialist team is developing a forward-looking electric car that is suitable for daily use, the Sion. Both the Sion’s integrated solar technology and innovative mobility services will enable users to access clean mobility, harness solar energy and reduce CO2 impacts.
Sono Motors was founded in 2016 and has rapidly grown to more than 140 employees today. The team combines a range of burgeoning global talent with industry veterans, including former employees from BMW, Nissan, Chrysler, Daimler, Audi, Mozilla, Sixt, FlixBus and mytaxi. Since its foundation, the company has raised approximately € 100M through reservations and funding. The company released its first generation Sion prototype in 2017 and has amassed 13,000 reservations with advance payments. In 2018, Sono Motors was recognized as a Solar Impulse Efficient Solution by the Solar Impulse Foundation. In January of 2020, Sono Motors successfully closed one of the largest community crowdfunding campaigns in Europe.
Sono Motors’ Sion intends to blend disruptive technology with affordability to enable individual contribution to global sustainability. The Sono solar technology replaces traditional paint with proprietary integrated solar panels that can form to various applications. Additionally, the Sion’s solar panels can add up to 245 km or 152 mi (112 km or 70mi on average) of additional driving range per week to the car’s battery. The Sion is expected to have the lowest TCO (total cost of ownership) in its category at the start of production, which is scheduled for the first half of 2023.
