To drum up interest in what it calls the world’s first affordable solar electric vehicle (SEV), Sono Motors is conducting a three-week tour in the U.S.
The goal is to increase its reservations and pre-orders for the Sion SEV, which the company revealed already stands at more than 42,000. The vehicle is expected to retail in Europe for about $25,000 and production is slated for the second half of 2023.
The SEV visited New York, Boston, Detroit and most recently the San Francisco Bay Area. It will finish the tour in Los Angeles.
Solar everywhere
The Sion will run 190 miles on its standard electric vehicle (EV) battery. But the integrated 456 solar half-cells extend the time between charges to estimated 70 miles per week in typical weather conditions and by as much as 150 miles per week in optimal conditions, Sono Motors said.
The Sion contains a 54 kWh LFP battery for charging capacity up to 75 kW for DC chargers and 11 kW for AC chargers. The bidirectional charging of 11 kW will turn Sion into a device that can charge other batteries such as another EV or put energy back into the public energy grid.
Recently, this idea of using EVs to charge homes or other businesses and help the power grid has been explored by PG&E, which just recently unveiled an export rate for bidirectional charging for commercial fleets and vehicles.
Reservations
Of its reservations it has received, 20,000 are active private with down payments confirmed as well as more than 22,000 pre-orders from fleet operators. This includes more than 12,000 from FINN, a subscription car service in Germany and the U.S.
Sono Motors is using contract manufacturer Valment Automotive to build the Sion in Finland and aims to produce about 257,000 Sion SEVs in the next seven years.
Sono Motors will also promote its Solar Bus Kit, which will be used to retrofit 40-foot public buses used in Europe to solar power. The kit will allow electrical subsystems in these buses — such as HVAC, automatic doors and video screens — to be powered by solar energy. The company said this could save up to 400 gallons of diesel and up to 4.4. tons of carbon dioxide per bus per year.
