#19: Wallace from the block, MAN, Energy Prices, Octoberfest (EN)
Sunny Sunday. The German power grid is powered by 69% of renewable energies at this very moment, four times more by wind than coal. And the sun is just rising. From 10:00 to 18:00 today, we will see the miracle that the electricity price on the exchange is dropping negative. If you use additional electricity, you actually get money. The money is paid for by the fossil power plants, for which it is very expensive to turn them off for a few hours. So they prefer to pay a fine and let them running, even though there is enough electricity from renewable energies.
+++ SONO & MAN +++
"Der SPIEGEL" (leading german newspaper) writes: "According to SPIEGEL information, the Munich electric car newcomer Sono wants to supply MAN commercial vehicles with solar power." An LOI (letter of intent) was signed, and MAN is testing Sono's solar technology. Specifically, it is about the eTGE panel van, in which solar panels are used on the roof and instead of the rear side windows. Congratulations.
And here is the press release from Sonomotors:
+++ WALLACE FROM THE BLOCK +++
The Sono Digital team has tweeted the latest concept for the app's start screen. Looks nice. Apparently, the UX designer (the job position is still vacant) will have a little more work to do. For example, the "full screen" icon was used for centering instead of the circle with its point, but these are small issues. I think it's very nice that you can see the live solar radiation.
https://twitter.com/SonoMotors/status/1390315690549198854/photo/1
+++ PARTS FOR FUTURE CONTEST +++
The competition for innovative Sion accessories is over; voting will start next week. Of the ten selected ideas, seven made it to the home straight and presented their solutions at the final presentation. In addition, many interested participants from Sono Motors were there and asked curious questions.
All ideas are "open source" and can be recreated free of charge - as an extension for the Sion. For me, everyone who took part is a winner. It was a lot of fun. Not all ideas have been implemented into a final design. Some have remained in the concept stage. But I think that doesn't matter much. It's the ideas that count.
Many participants created videos, but they are not yet online. I can show my contribution, and a second video is shared below in the Fun Fact section.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb3giZe-tpM (German)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy9Xdhd5iKo (English)
+++ DATES FOR TEST DRIVES +++
In the final session of "Parts for Future" the dates for the upcoming test drives were shown on a slide. Of course - preliminary and pending because of the Covid situation. Some big cities were on the list, up to five days each per city. And it could already start next month!
Since the dates were subject to change, I will not repeat them here, not to scatter rumors and hopes. Hopefully, more official news will surface soon.
(via screenshot)
+++ SOLAR +++
The new solar integration looks really good. It's incredible to see what a difference production tools and two million euros can make for Valoe. It's getting real.
+++ JOBS +++
Three new jobs have been added:
Integration engineer Powertrain: You are responsible for the electronic modules and the subsystems connected to the drive train.
The project quality manager is responsible for all quality-relevant topics in the project control of the overall vehicle development according to the maturity level assurance according to VDA or APQP according to AIAG.
Chief Product Owner Sono Solar: The engineers of the ViPV (Sono Solar) team are leaders in next-generation in-vehicle solar products. As Chief Product Owner Sono Solar you are responsible for the successful cooperation between the technical teams.
https://sonomotors.jobs.personio.de
+++ EVENTS +++
Appointments were more or less non-existent in the third wave of the pandemic. Now the first entries start to appear in the Dropbox:
The chairman of the Greens in the Bavarian state parliament from constituency 104 (Munich-Milbertshofen) ventures digitally across the border into the neighboring constituency 105 and informs herself about the Sion at Sono Motors:
https://katharina-schulze.de/termine/informationsgespraech-sono-motors/
Tuesday, May 11, 2021, 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. (digital)
+++ PRESS +++
The Spiegel article with MAN dominates the Google hit list, but other news can be found too. "Green Startups" reports on 11 startups from Munich. Sono is on the list. Other well-known names include Tado (maybe some know the air conditioning control, I have on, it is great), TWAICE (optimization of Li-ion batteries), and the PlantCube from Agrilution, a vertical farming cabinet for fresh vegetables at home.
The English press is already talking about a new "solar empire" that Sono is building. In Sono's solar division, 23 people are already working with Matthieu, the brain behind the latest technological developments.
https://www.globaltrailermag.com/2021/05/06/the-origins-of-a-solar-empire/
+++ FUN FACT +++
Due to the pandemic, the 2021 Oktoberfest in Munich has been canceled. The Oktoberfest has always been a nucleus for innovations: In 1908, there was - for the first time - a marquee with electric lighting at the Oktoberfest. The Schottenhammel marquee was equipped with light bulbs by none other than the discoverer of the theory of relativity Albert Einstein. The then 17-year-old worked as a holiday jobber in his uncle's Augsburg company.
Why am I telling you this? A young (17 years old) Sion fan from the UK took part in "Parts for Future" contest with his "Mum." They really tried hard to keep up with limited resources (designing a 3D product without a 3D printer is really difficult). Last night they produced another infomercial video until late into the night to introduce their concept of "Sion Essentials." That deserves respect. The video is somewhere between 90s teleshopping and the "Blair Witch Project" in terms of style. I think they deserve clicks to honor their enthusiasm. And if you like it, leave a like there. Some of them are sitting on a small English island and are happy about it.
https://youtu.be/kJ7mvYveLWM?t=25