Development Update, new CTO, #AllFor1Comma5
In the last few days, there have been some organizational news from Sono. So that nobody loses the overview, you will find the weekly overview here - with a lot of help from Astrid and Andreas from the moderation team, who also paid close attention to the zoom call on Monday. Thank you!
+++ NEW DELIVERY DATE +++
Sono invited the reservations to a zoom call to present the new timeline in person. The management of Sono - Laurin, Jona, Thomas, Torsten - led through the new timeline and the current status of the series development under the usual casual moderation of Berke.
A total of five times (four in German, one in English) the state of affairs was explained for half an hour each time, after which everyone could ask questions.
The key points:
Start of production in Trollhättan in 2022
New start of deliveries to end customers: first half of 2023, at least all current 12,800 reservations should receive their Sion in 2023.
According to Sono Motors, an AC wallbox (for bi-directional charging) will also be fully developed and tested with the Sion, which will also be available for purchase with the Sion. If you need a wallbox beforehand, you should take a cheap, subsidized one and then replace it and sell the existing one.
Upon request in a conference, it is made clear that, as always planned, all Sions are prepared for the AHK, but the agricultural hook is not in the trunk at the factory but has to be ordered/bought and installed separately.
There should be several delivery centers so that not everyone has to drive to Trollhättan individually. Trollhättan remains an option.
At least 47 pre-series vehicles will be built on the production line in Trollhättan for all tests in 2022.
In the third quarter of 2021, there will be "Design Freeze", every nut and bolt must be finally fixed, and the battery and the trunk lid must be decided by then.
Battery: it is checked whether a larger battery can be installed after all. This may lead to additional costs. But nothing is explicitly promised. Participants asked whether cost reductions in battery technology could not be passed on in the form of a slightly larger battery.
In addition to the well-known Renault Zoe, there is a new bridging offer for customers in Germany. In a subscription model, z. B. a Tesla Model 3, Fiat 500e, and other models can be rented. Thomas Hausch has announced that he will also look for individual solutions for customers outside Germany in the EU if there is a need (which was also registered by participants at the same time).
The financing side looks good; the entry of institutional investors was a breakthrough for further steps.
Sono Motors has announced that it has further patents in preparation. The flexible and inexpensive PV integration in vehicles generates great demand. This has already resulted in the truck solar integration known from the CES presentation and the minibus with solar cells.
An overview of the Total Costs of Ownership (TCO) over 5 years in comparison to other models in the so-called B, C, and D segment was also interesting. The Sion is in the C segment like the ID3, in the B segment are Zoe and BMW i3. The Tesla Model 3 is in the D segment. Of all these, the Sion performs best in terms of TCO. The economically oriented car buyer is happy to hear that, even if the range is currently 45 km below the next comparison model (Zoe).
(by e-mail)
+++ NEW CTO +++
Markus Volmer is following in the footsteps of CTO by Roberto, whose departure a year ago left a big void. Markus has many years of experience in series development and also in working with Chinese partners, which is certainly helpful. In China, it is important that a car is "Daqi" - a word that cannot be translated into German. It means something like "good atmosphere". With this in mind, we hope that Markus will present us with a "daqi" European Sion. Nǐ hǎo, Markus!
You can find out more about CTO Markus Volmer in the video.
Our New CTO - Markus Volmer | Sono Motors - YouTube
+++ JOBS +++
In the zoom sessions, it was stated that Sono currently employs 130 people and wants to increase to 170 colleagues by the end of the year. Last week only one new job was taken on:
"MCU Firmware and PV Modeling Engineer (m / f / x): You visualize, refine and document the MCU state machine. The MCU charges the high-voltage battery with the energy from the solar cells. The better the algorithms in it, the less energy is lost. "
https://sonomotors.jobs.personio.de/job/333306
+++ FRIDAYS FOR FUTURE +++
Sono and Fridays for Future have long been "Brothers (and Sisters) in Mind". Not least because one of the test Zoes from the Sono-Digital team listens to the name Greta. Last Friday, "FFF" called for a global climate strike day and thus stirred up a lot of media dust. Under the hashtag #AlleFür1Komma5 and # AllFor1Comma5, actions were filmed, and messages were shared around the world to refer to the agreement of the Paris climate agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. Sono has also contributed with a specially produced video.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=121193966632565
+++ Links and Right: POWER DAY +++
On Monday, VW organized its Power Day and underpinned the switch to e-mobility in a performance show. It was interesting that the group wants to enable one of its platforms for bidirectional charging at the end of 2022.
Unlike Sono, VW seems to bet on DC. What was on display was a very large, very expensive-looking DC wallbox for bidirectional charging. Products will not be available before 2023, and it will probably be the premium Taycan / Audi platform first. If Sono Motors keeps the new timeline, they'll definitely be ahead of that. Personally, I think DC Bidi is unsuitable for the mass market of cars because it is too big and too expensive for the row house garage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdnRfNwj1Fg
Two days later, BMW jumped the bandwagon and pointed out that they are still in the race - and that the i4 (presented at the IAA 2017!) will soon be ready.
https://youtu.be/BzrKBuEi35w?t=628
+++ REUTERS +++
The Reuters news agency is fueling the stock market rumors about Sono Motors. Although the heading of the message says "Sources", none are mentioned in the text.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sono-motors-ipo-idUSKBN2B71TA
The first "day traders" have searched for abbreviations to check what's on, but without result:
https://www.youtube.com / watch? v = JVucZy60JlY
+++ LECTURE +++
Matthieu gave a virtual lecture at the University of Delft. Two things are interesting: the solar integration seems to be really inexpensive, and the organizational chart from the solar team (at 2:06 minutes) looks pretty solid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zhywF-sPDg (English)
+++ FUN FACT +++
Vaccine first. It's good that the Sion does not yet need any production capacity in Trollhättan! So there is enough space for a concerted Swedish vaccination campaign in the halls of NEVS. The building can get used to vehicles rolling trough the production line again in 2022 - after a 10-year break!
Have a nice week, stay safe.