Germany-based solar vehicle manufacturer Sono Motors announced that it would start the production of its solar-powered vehicle Sion in the second half of 2023 in Finland.
The carmaker announced in April that it would be producing the vehicle at Valmet Automotive's production line in Uusikaupunki, Finland. The contract manufacturer will provide the capacity to produce more than 257,000 vehicles over a seven-year period.
At the launch event "Celebrate the Sun", the startup carmaker unveiled Sion, made mostly of black plastic and metal, with solar panels integrated in the car roof and on the sides of the car.
Under the front hood of the vehicle is a battery pack consisting of 456 interdigitated back-contacted (IBC) solar cells. Sono Motors stressed that the battery contains no earth metals such as cobalt, nickel, or manganese, and that "solar power is free energy".
At the launch event on July 25, the carmaker gathered a big community of customers who had been anticipating the vehicle as far back as 2016.
According to the carmaker, the production-ready solar-powered vehicle has received over 19,000 pre-orders. The down payment for the vehicle is EUR500 and the selling price is EUR29,900.
The vehicle has a range of 300 kilometers with a 54KWh solar battery.
Highlights of the production design were the bidirectional charging portal installed at the front of the vehicle. The car is like a power bank on wheels, said Sono Motors CEO Laurin Hahn.
The vehicle can be charged through DC fast chargers. It can also discharge and supply power to household electronics, camping gears, e-bikes, and other vehicles – through the power plugs installed in the portal at the front.
The design team at Sono utilizes a lot of plastic parts and trim parts, which is uncommon for a traditional vehicle. Notably, plastic components are more likely to shrink or expand as temperature changes, so the team left a gap on the top of the roof to create space for thermal expansion.
Solar bus fleet
Sono also designed solar panels for buses. Each solar-powered bus is expected to save 1,500 liters of diesel and reduces carbon emissions by four tonnes every year.
The carmaker added that the payback time for the bus solar kit is three to four years, and the bus could continue running in the streets for decades.
According to the carmaker, there are 80,000 buses in Germany that could potentially integrate Sono's solar bus kits.
Sion interior Credit: Sono Motors
