#11 (EN): New Logo, Highlights and Lowlights

Happy Sunday. In terms of communication, there were some small new things about the Sonos. In the current time, it's also sometimes pleasant when nothing happens. 

+++ HABEMUS LOGO +++

The logo selection ended without any white smoke. The sun stays. 49% voted for logo variant 1, and so we will keep the sun logo at the core of the brand. If you want some background on this, you can read the interview with designer Gesa, who creatively led the project. 

https://sonomotors.com/de/blog/a-community-company-supporters-decide-on-new-sono-logo/

I'm guessing the new font is "Posterama Pro 1927". The year of Metropolis the film, and the year that production of the Ford Model T ended. With a lot of imagination, the Sion could be the successor, affordable, black, and an equipment variant.

https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/mti/posterama/1927-semibold/

+++ SPRINT +++

The countdown to the presentation of the validation vehicles is on, ThyssenKrupp is busy tinkering, peening, and stamping, and as soon as the first body shells arrive at Bertrandt in Munich, things can get started there too. A few dozen Sions need to be built. So far there are no official photos, only the Sprint Report. However, a new edition of that - which we will go through now:

Highlight: "Chassis/EE/DES: GD&T concept for SVC3 DONE". Translated: The gap dimensions are defined. Gaps will not be the outstanding quality feature with polycarbonate. More like fissure gorges. But does that matter? Don’t mind the gap!

In Progress: “SCCM dbc file received but affects the CAN communication of the vehicle.” The CAN bus signals on the steering column do not match. Sounds like additional work, but doable. “In Progress” sounds like yellow in a traffic light logic. I would say: green. At least there is now a DBC file. 

Lowlight: “ACC as a feature won't be integrated into the Sion for now. We plan to offer it at a later date”. ACC (adaptive cruise control) is a cruise control system in motor vehicles that recognizes vehicles driving ahead, determines their speed and maintains a desired distance through braking and engine intervention. Unfortunately, it will be omitted and may come later in a facelift.


Infotainment:Analysis of potential rear USB (front USB unchanged) now 12V outlet as solution in the rear”. Maybe there is at least one 12V connection at the back, if not a USB. Everyone who has children knows how important the charging options in the back seat are. You're sitting on 54,000 watt-hours in the car battery, and the cell phone is empty at the top. A Sion battery can charge 10,000 top smartphones, that's half a village. But without a connection at the top, it's useless. There is a USB port at the front, which will definitely remain.


Infotainment II: “VCM Pre-release testing to read firmware versions through UDS”. VCM is the Vehicle Control Module, the central control unit. And UDS is a diagnostic communication protocol (Unified Diagnostic Services). The idea behind UDS to be able to contact and maintain any control unit in the vehicle to update - in a standardized way. In order for the whole thing to be secure, it must be protected by certificates, otherwise a hacker could import illegal updates later, and nobody wants that. 

Infotainment III:VCM for SVC3 has an error in the molding, can be fixed manually. Changes will be made in tooling to fix for SVC4”. I expect errors like this to happen more frequently in the near future, but that's exactly why you build prototypes. The main thing is no mistake in these super expensive long-running tools.


lowlights in infotainment, but that's mostly software. And software has no errors, only ambiguities in the requirements.

Chassis described every spot to be welded on seven pages. I got stuck at one entry. “Getting the booster quote”. After two years of Corona, boosters are now known as a term to repeat one more time. What is a booster offer? An improved version where the supplier tops it all off? It took me another coffee to realize that “booster quote” probably means the an offer for a DC-DC converter, the “booster”. Or it's an entirely new negotiation tactic for a better price. “You have to boost your offer on the performance side to become a supplier for the Sion”.

Bidi: “Risk of not achieving maximum charging speeds with OBC for SCV3”. There is a risk that the SVC3 cannot yet work with the maximum loading speed. I think it's important to know, it doesn't make me nervous. The good engineer always has 10% reserve. 

The “Weight” chapter, the last page in the report, is new (or not noticed until now). It seems someone cares, and they have a tool. I can’t find any more information in this, maybe you have more luck - it’s page 24, at the very end 

https://sonomotors.com/site/assets/files/7579/sono-motors-dev-sprint-review-cw08-22-1.pdf In

Long story short: development goes on and there is currently no real showstopper. That's the good news.

+++ PRESS +++

“E-Fahrer” has a short interview with Lars from Sono's Business Development Team:

https://efahrer.chip.de/news/sind-solar-autos-wirklich-die-zukunft-deutscher-solar-profi-erklaert-die-technik_107428

There is also one or two mentions in English. “Ndion” reports on innovations in electromobility, from cars to buses to boats. The Sion is there.

https://ndion.de/en/electromobility-design-meets-elegance-and-high-tech/

Magazine “DER AKTIONÄR” reports on Sono, a “new generation of founders”:

https://www.deraktionaer.de/ artikel/commerce-brands-unicorns/nach-sap-siemens-oder-mercedes-das-ist-die-neue-gruendergeneration-deutschlands--20246946.html

+++ FUN FACT +++

How careful you have to be with “expert opinions” can be seen on OnVista.de: The hydrogen car is dead. But in the Magazin, it gives five reasons why hydrogen in vehicles will take off now. The five reasons are the same reasons we heard in the last 30 years. Is hydrogen the new gas? Maybe. But not in a vehicle, which can be charged at any household socket without any physical material transportation. Hydrogen has a future, but not in cars.

The author is of course right in the second half of the article - when the Sion is mentioned as an all-purpose solution on the way to climate neutrality. Due to the combination of "SEV" and hydrogen, it is unfortunately only enough for the fun fact,enjoy with caution:

https://www.onvista.de/news/das-wasserstoffauto-komm!-5-grosse-benefits-die-kaum -somebody-observes-525662705

The future belongs to the solar electric car. Who would have thought that a “special military operation” of all things would lead to a large majority being interested in the topic of energy and energy production. In Switzerland, too, the Sion is seen as a technology of the future, and that without any fun fact:

https://gbsg.ch/marktAPPLICATIONS-TECHNOLOGY-TYPES-JUENGSTE-TRENDS-ZUEKUENFIGE-growinganalyses-branchenanalysen-und-prognosen/

Stay safe, have a nice week,

Sebastian, Astrid, Anderas.

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#12 (DE): Nächste Phase, Scheinwerfer, Pressemitteilung

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#11: Neues Logo, Highlights und Lowlights