#32 (EN): Press Event, Transparency, Cat Content
Happy Sunday. The vacation season in Bavaria is in full swing. Greetings go out to all who are at home and keeping things running.
+++ PRESS EVENT +++
So much has happened lately, so here's a quick recap of where we are now on the way to the production Sion:
The first 16 "Series Validation Vehicles" (SVV) are being built at Bertrandt in Munich, one of which could be seen at the "Celebrate the Sun" event last week. The vehicles are needed for validation and marketing / test drives, before Valmet takes over to build the next ones in Finland.
At least one of the SVV is driveable at the moment, carefully of course. A video can be found here: https://twitter.com/LaurinHahn/status/1552210598745751552 - and another driving video outside in the fresh air is hidden in the Q&A video from the event.
The solar technology is also applied on buses and vans, multiple cooperations are currently being concluded for this purpose. Revenues so far are small, but hey, it’s a start.
Sono is not out of the woods yet: more money needs to be raised before series production can begin - the production setup needs to be paid for, And there are technical hurdles to be overcome within the next months. Two examples: bidirectional charging will only be available as a software update, and the 6th generation panels is still wavy and tend to delaminate. Sono has defined measures for everything, details were given at the event.
Olaf, CEO of Valmet Automotive, was at the event and explained how Valmet will manage series production. Valmet is taking over step by step to prepare for series production in Uusikaupunki.
Sono informed the press about the recent developments this week:
+++ LIST OF QUESTIONS +++
Last week we had reported here that the small YouTube video series "the path to series production" was ending on schedule. This generated quite a bit of feedback, and already on the following Monday - one day later - it was clear: we will continue to look behind the scenes.
Thank you very much for all your new questions and the very positive feedback!
I'm especially happy because the series also makes the specialists who work on the Sion visible - even if many engineers don't want to appear in front of a camera at first. And so everyone can participate in the development progress, even from home.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIDBtWivyfrCZZpJO15IOAN8TV0P50brT
+++ SPRINT REPORT 24.22 +++
After the game is before the game - the first SVC3 - or SVV (series validation vehicle) are built, the others are coming step by step. A new sprint report is available. It is dated mid-June, so one month before the "Celebrate the Sun" event.
Highlight:
Initial assessment confirmed by KBA - OEM status achieved.
"Incomplete Type Approval" submitted and approval process coordinated with KBA.
Markus had already announced at the event that Sono is now an "OEM". It was unclear what an "Incomplete Type Approval" meant. I was able to clarify that: Either you homologate a vehicle in one go, and deliver all documents to the KBA (Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt) in one package, or you do it step by step. This "step by step" is agreed with the KBA beforehand. The result is the same.
E/E integration commissioning of two out of 16 yellow boards.
CAN communication successfully checked for all three CAN busses.
The "yellow board" is a huge table on which you spread out the wiring harness with all the ECUs and test it - before you install it in the car (and only then realize that one part does not work).
Commissioning is the "putting into operation" of all the control units. The devices communicate with each other via the CAN bus (Controller Area Network). For safety reasons, there are several of these buses in a vehicle. Tesla, for example, has five separate buses, and newer models even have six. Since the Sion has neither Autopilot nor electric seats, fewer will do, according to the sprint report it has three.
ADAS: Front view Camera (FVC) and Front Radar tested at Assembly Partner and work well.
For the emergency braking assistant, several different sensors (such as camera and radar) have to work together to prevent phantom braking. The tests seem to be going well.
Discussions with suppliers to enforce the use of recycled materials.
Under one video, there was a legitimate question about the percentage of recyced materials. Sono is discussing with suppliers how to increase the percentage.
In Progress
SVC3 Window regulators are not working & slows us down due to Local Interconnect Network (LIN) communication issues.
LIN is the little brother of CAN. Via the CAN bus the information travels through the wiring harness to the window regulators, what to do, and there sits a control unit which then controls the actuators and sensors. On the last meters one does this then with a LIN network, and there it sticks probably. A problem which is definitely solvable, one must "work away".
Infotainment: VCM: Able to read CAN messages from the CAN Bus and successfully sent to the backend. This is all reflected on the Sono App so we can see when doors are open, closed, what state the vehicle is in, etc.
This was a community question - can I see in the Sono App if the windows are open or not. And here's the answer: yes.
Lowlights
Infotainment Head Unit (IHU) SW development slows ADAS down. Still a blocker.
No test of Infotainment components on yellow board as software from Infotainment Squad is delayed.
Sono is no different than the others: First they all need longer to get their parts together, and then it has to be done very fast.
Bidirectional: Feedback from supplier as DC functionality available for SVC3 end of August.
At the Celebrate event, Tillmann reported very transparently about the status of Bidi and the on-board loader and what the next steps are. A big thank you at this point. The Sprint report confirms this, the SVC3 will not be able to charge with DC until August (i.e. this month). To the SOP, of course, it's in - 75 kW is in the spec sheet, which equates to 416 km/hour the Sion can recharge at the fast charging station. The decisive factor in practice is how long it maintains the value; it slows down at 70-80% at the latest. In practice, this means for "normal drivers" (130 km/h): a good two hours on the highway, 30-40 minutes charging, then driving again for a good two hours. Munich-Cologne with two stops.
Full Review:
https://sonomotors.com/site/assets/files/8668/dev_sprint_review_cw2422.pdf
+++ SAVE THE DATE +++
IAA TRANSPORT IN HANNOVER: September 20 to 25, 2022
The transport division reports specifically in its media on world premiere No. 2 - the solar kit for buses. Sono will present the state of the art to a wide audience of professionals at IAA Transport in Hall 26 Stand C02 (how appropriate) in Hanover in September.
https://visitors.iaa-transportation.com/aussteller/sono-motors/N1490209
https://www.eurotransport.de/artikel/sono-motors-solar-kit-fuer-dieselbusse-11211853.html
+++ CE +++
Clean Electric (CE) reports for three quarters of an hour on Celebrate the Sun and Sono. Included is an interview with Denis (he leads the SVV project, we know him from the stage) and Jona (CEO). Starting at hour 2:00. CE are conviction-crunchers and podcasters of the first hour and still know the office of the Sono beginnings in the Lindwurmstraße.
They enjoyed the event!
https://podcastaddict.com/episode/143168160/t=120
+++ INTERNATIONAL +++
In Turkey, the "TOGG" is eagerly awaited, the first e-car from pure Turkish production. Four days ago, TOGG started the "Manufacturing Try-Out Phase", which seems to be one step further of what Sono is currently doing at Bertrandt. The current state of the Togo seems to be what Sono is aiming for with the next step, the SVC4 in Uusikaupunki.
They want to deliver the Togg already in the first half of 2023. Some blogs of Turkey think the Togg is good - but the Sion is the true "people's car", and solar is interesting, especially in Turkey.
Güneşten şarj oluyor! - It charges with the sun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jhOsMkE79s
+++ FUN FACT +++
If you're wondering why the cover photo today is a cat: Sono calls in a loose sequence when there's something new to check on site - the intro to tech videos.
In the video call to start the battery test session, my cat was running through the garden behind me, looking at the camera in the corner. The "take" was deleted, most probably because the text wasn't good.
Since it's vacation time and cats always make for good cheer on the internet, the cover photo today is a cat - Nikki. Not visible in the video, but now. Relax. Have a nice vacation! Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4LOSvJYMig
Have a nice week, stay healthy.
Sebastian, Asti & Andreas