Sono Motors officially sunsets Sion EV, will focus solely on B2B solar tech
German solar technology startup Sono Motors has officially thrown in the towel on its Sion solar passenger EV program following an inspiring but unsuccessful crowdfunding campaign called #SaveSion. The pivot puts the company’s entire focus on its Sono Solar tech business, which has previously found success with third party customers around the world. While Sono should be alright, its abandonment of solar EV development is yet another chapter in a sad tale about how hard it is to scale the technology without billions in funding.
Over the past six years, Sono Motors ($SEV) has not only built a production-intent mass-market solar EV but also a community of fans and interested customers across Europe. We at Electrek have been following the progress of the Sion solar EV since it was a mere rendering in 2017, onto its first prototype iteration, second, and a final production-intent design I personally got to see up close in Munich last summer.
Over the past couple years especially, Sono Group has publicly shared progress of the other half of its business, integration of its solar tech on other vehicles like MAN Vans or a refrigerated semi-trailer with CHEREAU.
In December, hours after posting its Q3 2022 results that outlined a growing B2B solar integration business, Sono CEOs and cofounders Jona Christians and Laurin Hahn offered a public statement relaying serious financial struggles its Sion solar EV program was enduring.
At the time, abandoning the solar EV program in favor of its revenue-generating B2B solar technology division, but after all its hard work, the Sono team announced one last Hail Mary attempt to fund the Sion’s 12-month journey to production.
Sono launched a 50-day campaign called #SaveSion, calling its community of reservation holders to action by committing to a solar EV purchase in order to fund roughly 100 million euros the company expected would be required for its final steps of development and production.
By January 26, 2023, Sono announced over 8,600 community members and additional sources had committed to 47 million euros, and that it was extending the campaign for an additional month while it hoped for a miracle… or at the very least, an angel investor or two.
With the #SaveSion scheduled to end in four days, Sono has accepted the cruel startup reality that it won’t get the necessary funding in time, the Sion program will be terminated, and Sono Motors will now be known as a B2B solar integration company and a defeating reminder of what could have been in the shrinking world of solar EVs.
Sono will continue solar tech at the cost of 300 staff
Sono Group announced the official termination of the Sion solar EV program today in favor of its solar solutions business focused upon hardware, power electronics, and software. Sono states its B2B solar technology has already been implemented across the products of 23 different customers around the world including Europe, Asia, and the US.
The company expressed that although it is difficult to abandoned the project that was its original nucleus, its B2B solar business has proven fruitful and is much more capital-light than developing and scaling tens of thousands of solar EVs. In fact, Sono states that 90% of its funding needs for 2023 were to be allocated to the Sion program. Sono cofounder and CEO Laurin Hahn spoke:
This pivot marks a significant step in Sono Motors’ business development. Even though we had to terminate our original passion project, the Sion program, shifting our entire focus to business-to-business solar solutions provides us with an opportunity to continue to create innovative products in the solar space. It was a difficult decision and despite more than 45,000 reservations and pre-orders for the Sion, we were compelled to react to the ongoing financial market instability and streamline our business.
While Sono’s growing number of B2B customers provides evidence of the viability of its solar technology, recent validation from the EU only hardens its case. The company relayed that it recently secured 1.46 million euros from the EU Commission’s European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (‘CINEA’). Sono says it will use the funding to further development of its proprietary solar technology (‘SEAMLESS-PV’ project).
While Sono should remain afloat following its official solar business pivot, its “lighter” operations won’t come without their fair share of collateral damage. Without the Sion program, Sono says it is planning to terminate the jobs of about 300 employees. That’s a sad bookend to an attempt at a consumer-friendly passenger solar EV that truly could have done some good in the world.
With Sion officially out there is more pressure is on Aptera Motors, who remains the closest (yet still quite far) to reaching solar EV production, although Lightyear appears to be back for one last Hail Mary of its own.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
National Grid Renewables has broken ground on its 100 MW Apple River Solar Project in Polk County, Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin solar farm, which will use US-made First Solar Series 6 Plus bifacial modules, will be constructed by The Boldt Company, creating 150 construction and service jobs. Apple River Solar will generate over $36 million in direct economic benefits over its first 20 years.
Once it comes online in late 2025, Apple River Solar will supply clean energy to Xcel Energy, which serves customers throughout the Upper Midwest. According to National Grid Renewables, the solar farm will generate enough energy to power around 26,000 homes annually. It will also offset about 129,900 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year – equivalent to taking 30,900 cars off the road.
“We are excited to see this project begin as it underscores our dedication to delivering clean, reliable and affordable energy to our customers,” said Karl Hoesly, President, Xcel Energy-Wisconsin and Michigan. “This project is an important step in those goals while bringing significant economic benefits to Polk County and the local townships.”
Electrek reported in February that Xcel Energy, Minnesota’s largest utility, expects to cut more than 80% – and possibly up to 88% – of its emissions by 2030, putting it on track to hit Minnesota’s goal of net zero by 2040. It also says it’s on track to achieve its clean energy goals for all the Upper Midwest states it serves – Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Michigan.
To limit power outages and make your home more resilient, consider going solar with a battery storage system. In order to find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. They have hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and you share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisers to help you every step of the way. Get started here. –trusted affiliate link*
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Tesla has announced that it will finally deliver 500 kW charging as it is about to install its long-awaited V4 Supercharger cabinets.
The rollout of Supercharger V4 has been a strange one, to say the least.
Tesla has been deploying the new charging stations for two years and calling them “Supercharger V4”, but it has only been deploying the charging stalls.
Supercharger stations are made of two main parts: the stalls, which are where the charging cable is located, and the cabinets, which are generally located further back and include all the power electronics.
For all these new “Supercharger V4”, Tesla was actually using Supercharger V3 cabinets. This has been limiting the power output of the charging stations to 250 kW – although
Today, Tesla officially announced its “V4 Cabinet”, which the automaker claims will enable of “delivering up to 500kW for cars and 1.2MW for Semi.”
Here are the main features of the V4 Cabinet as per Tesla:
- Faster charging: Supports 400V-1000V vehicle architectures, including 30% faster charging for Cybertruck. S3XY vehicles enjoy 250kW charge rates they already experience on V3 Cabinet — charging up to 200 miles in 15 minutes.
- Faster deployments: V4 Cabinet powers 8 posts, 2X the stalls per cabinet. Lower footprint and complexity = more sites coming online faster.
- Next-generation hardware: Cutting-edge power electronics designed to be the most reliable on the planet, with 3X power density enabling higher throughput with lower costs.
Tesla reports that its first sites with the new V4 Cabinets are going into permitting now. The company expects its first sites to open next year.
We recently reported about Tesla’s new Oasis Supercharger project, which includes larger solar arrays and battery packs to operate the charging station mostly off-grid.
Early in the deployment of the Supercharger network, Tesla promised to add solar arrays and batteries to all Supercharger stations, and Musk even said that most stations would be able to operate off-grid.
While Tesla did add solar and batteries to a few stations, the vast majority of them don’t have their own power system or have only minimal solar canopies.
Back in 2016, I asked Musk about this, and he said that it would now happen as Tesla had the “pieces now in place” with Supercharger V3, Powerpack V2, and SolarCity:
It took about 8 years, but it sounds like the pieces are now getting actually in place with Supercharger V4, Megapacks, and this new Oasis project.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Hyundai has a new secret weapon it’s about ready to unleash. To revamp the brand in China and counter BYD’s surge, Hyundai is launching a new AI-powered EV next year. The new model will be Hyundai’s first dedicated electric car for the world’s largest EV market.
With the help of Haomo, a Chinese autonomous startup, Hyundai will launch its first EV equipped with generative AI. It will also be its first model designed specifically for China.
A Hyundai Motor official said (via The Korea Herald) the company is “working to load the software” onto the new EV model, “which will be released in the Chinese market next year.” The spokesperson added, “The level of autonomous driving is somewhere between 2 and 2.5.”
In comparison, Tesla’s Autopilot is considered a level 2 advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) on the SAE scale (0 to 5), meaning it offers limited hands-free features.
With Autopilot, you still have to keep your eyes on the road and hands on the steering wheel, or the system will notify you and eventually disengage.
Haomo’s system, DriveGPT, unveiled last spring, takes inspiration from the OpenAI’s popular ChatGPT.
The system can continuously update in real-time to optimize decision-making by absorbing traffic data patterns. According to Haomo, DriveGPT is used in around 20 models as it looks to play a bigger role in China.
Hyundai hopes new AI-powered EV boosts sales in China
Electric vehicle sales continue surging in China. According to Rho Motion, China set another EV sales record last month with 1.2 million units sold, up 50% from October 2023.
Over 8.4 million EVs were sold in China in the first ten months of 2024, a notable 38% increase from last year.
BYD continues to dominate its home market. According to Autovista24, BYD accounted for 32.9% of all PHEV and EV (NEV) sales in China through September, with over half of the top 20 best-selling EV models.
Tesla was second with a 6.5% share of the market, but keep in mind these numbers only include plug-in models (PHEV).
Like most foreign automakers, Hyundai is struggling to keep up with the influx of low-cost electric models in China. Beijing Hyundai’s sales have been slipping since 2017. Through September, Korean automaker’s share of the Chinese market fell to just 1.2%.
Last month, Hyundai opened its first overseas digital R&D center in China to help kick off its return to the region.
According to local reports, Hyundai is partnering with other local tech companies like Thundersoft, a smart cockpit provider, and others in China to power up its next-gen EVs
With its first AI-powered EV launching next year, Hyundai hopes to turn things around in the region quickly. The new model will be one of five to launch in China through 2026.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports7 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Environment1 year agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway