Have a nice Sunday! After the parts stores at Bertrandt have been filled in the last few weeks, they are now busy assembling. Finished vehicles are the prerequisite for test drives.

+++ HIGHLIGHT +++

Sono-CTO Markus leads through the hall at Bertrandt and explains some of the stations. Feel free to take a look for yourself, rarely is it explained so transparently.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3DEG-c9zlc

The most important information: the 16 complete Sions are manufactured according to plan. The goal is to be able to build reproducibly - the basis for quality and scaling of volume at Valmet.

What else stands out?

The moss. Regardless of whether it's useful or not, it's simply part of the Sion and some dust always sticks around. I now know how to replace it. In the video you can see it without the cover. Instead of moss, you can put anything in the compartment, from H0 track with train - to pine shavings for the special vehicle scent ambience. Wonder tree 2.0. If someone likes to build dioramas, I'm still looking for the dimensions. Nothing like this is planned by Sono, but there are few limits to your imagination when you look at it like this.

By the way, this light trim in toilet stone gray at the moss cover is recycled plastic. The color is not final - the recyclate can be supplied in any color, including fancy stone gray, ash gray or mouse gray.

I also find the cover of the instrument panel revealing. On the right you can see the opening for the passenger airbag, above it on the right the holes for the tweeter from the sound system. To the right of the airbag is a normal ventilation outlet, no longer the vents from the SVC2, which simply heated the A-pillar.

At minute 3:13, Markus gets philosophical.

"If the product then goes into the market, something that stays, then as an engineer you have created something. That's why engineering is one of the best jobs in the world."

We don't get distracted by words - what's there on the shelf in the background at 3:21 should be the bidirectional onboard charger the DCU, the magic box.

https://youtu.be/A3DEG-c9zlc?t=200

Another stop on the tour is the second workstation, here the solar panels are already mounted and you can see nicely the solar integration. "Understatement" is the appropriate word: you can see the solar cells, but they don't intrude.

Luke explains some details about the wiring harness and how it runs inside the vehicle. 2.4 kilometers of cable are installed in the Sion.

To avoid having to assemble the whole thing only to discover that something is wrong, the "neural network" is laid out on the table beforehand (yellow board) and everything is tested. He did not demonstrate the wiper water nozzles.

And here is the whole list of all tech videos so far:

https://sonomtrs.com/SVV-playlist

+++ ADRENALINEHAUSCH +++

In "THE EV MUSINGS" podcast, COO Thomas Hausch is interviewed - and gives quick-witted answers. It starts off by talking about his long history in the automotive industry. In 2011, he ended his career in classic car production and turned to electric mobility, "to fight for a better future."

• The Sion is presented as a family van and minivan, and as an "Airbnb on wheels." Those who share homes also share cars. It's also a "Swiss Army Knife" and not a Gucci bag. Everything you need is inside.

• When asked why the Sion isn't larger on the outside because of solar use, he emphasizes the primary customer benefit of interior size with workable exterior dimensions. The average use of the Sion can be covered by solar most of the time. It's all about a practical car, and that includes keeping the exterior dimensions in check. That's why black will do: "Yes sir, any color as long as it's black." Thomas explains that the goal is that there should be solar cells on EVERY vehicle (SEV).

• Technical detail: In order for the e-car to be charged, the charging electronics and the battery management must be active. Both components need a lot of energy, so a kind of "bypass" was developed for the Sion so that as much as possible arrives in the battery during solar charging.

• A saying that couldn't be nicer in a sales talk: "Even micro-scratches from the car wash increase the efficiency of the solar panels" - says Thomas. Nightmares due to paint problems were yesterday.

• No right-hand drive planned.

• As King for a day, Thomas as king would raise taxes on fossil fuels.

• "The sun always shines on EVs" says the host at the end and one of the next podcasts is about a start-up for vegan leather pants.

https://evmusings.libsyn.com/133-the-sono-episode

Thomas also gets a challenge point from me, he said Uusikaupunki in the interview.

+++ SONO CARSHARING +++

The Sono app has received an update. After downloading the update, you can make your community public - making it easier to find your match. Sono Carsharing - available in the Appstore.

https://app.sono.world

For the nerds among us, here's another tip: On Wednesday, July 13, there will be a Meetup at Hofmannstraße in Munich on the topic of "Adapting to the DNA of your company - Community-driven development and the challenges of an incumbent automaker." - with Cristina and Johannes from Sono, two of the brains behind the app.

https://www.meetup.com/de-DE/producttank-munich/events/286487444/

+++ LAURIN AT LEADERS IN CLEANTECH +++

Laurin emphasizes how important the financial commitment of the community was to even have a chance at the IPO with institutional investors. In this context, besides the dedicated team, he highly praises the professional approach of CFO Torsten.

He emphasizes again that Sono Motors is about lasting success for the environment and an affordable family car. Quick personal profits they could have made before the 53 million campaign, with the associated recognition in the economic world. Only - that's not what the founders and numerous community members are about. Laurin is also soliciting employees who want to work for the cause - and not for as much money as would be customary in the industry. Jobs can be found here, please spread the word:

https://sonomotors.com/de/career/

After explaining the solar division, he goes on to describe his lifelong dream that one day he will read in the newspaper that fossil fuels are no longer needed.

https://leadersincleantech.com/laurin-hahn-sono-motors

+++ SURVEY +++

Sono hasn't had a survey for a long time. If you want to provide answers on some questios, here are eight questions about the demographics of the reservation holders.

https://www.surveymonkey.de/r/NFFPKST

+++ FUN FACT +++

After Markus Vollmer raved so much about the engineering profession at the beginning, I would like to hand over today's closing words to Christina Kunkel. In a commentary at the Süddeutsche Zeitung on the topic "Abolition of smaller vehicle models, a mistake" she wrote:

Of course, an electric S-Class is significantly less harmful to the climate than its gasoline counterpart. But climate protection also has a social component and only has a real effect when the products required are available to the broad masses and are also affordable. If this is taken seriously, it would also be the task of German car manufacturers to put as much money and engineering skill into the development of affordable, electric compact cars as they do into individual air freshening systems or vegan massage seat designs in luxury SUVs."

https://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/a-klasse-mercedes-ende-1.5610245

We saw in the video with Markus that these engineers do exist, well over 100 are now working at Sono. And the gap is filled in this way.

And we also have a fragrance system in the Sion, just drop some pine wood in the moss compartment for a fresh breeze, and stop & go traffic becomes a short vacation. Without the special "P21 Air Balance Package", but for everyone.

Stay healthy. Have a nice week,

Sebastian, Astrid and Andreas