#27 (EN): The week in review, stickers, the Hoff, test drives in Munich
Have a beautiful Sunday. I have to apologize in advance, I was cycling at the Isar yesterday, and the ascent in Schäftlarn did not quite match my current Corona fitness level. It's all a bit sluggish right now. Special thanks to the co-moderators from Facebook Astrid and Andreas who defused the text in correction mode.
+++ REVIEW +++
The last week was all over the battery upgrade and the higher charging capacity. If you missed the details, you can watch the “Youtube Community Update” again, where the points are discussed in detail. The most important tidbits:
Front-wheel drive is set in the Sion. All speculations about rear-wheel drive are “unfounded”.
110 kg more weight due to the new battery.
1.4C charging power.
The peak load is given in relation to the battery size: when a Tesla with a 100 kWh battery pack is charging at 100 kW - then this is 1C (C for capacity). It does not put a lot of strain on the individual cell.
When an old i3 with 20 kWh battery charges with 50 kW, then that is 2.5C. Means: Although the Tesla charges with twice as much absolute power, the battery is stressed much less than a car with a small battery. It just spreads out better. 1,4C of the Sion is completely relaxed. Even frequent quick charging won't hurt the battery too much. It will be more interesting to see if Sono manages to bring the battery to the correct temperature levels with the creative temperature management in place.September is the final “Design Freeze”, after which no changes are possible to the vehicle specs.
The start of delivery to the current holder of areservation is still planned for the first half of 2023. “End of 2023” only applies to new reservations.
There may be functions that that be activated later for an extra charge. Some “carry over parts” may feature additional functionality.
What was not explained in more detail, but should be self-evident: Prescribed assistance systems or e.g. asound that warns pedestrians (AVAS Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System) must be on board for delivery. Unfortunately, the noise has to be quite technical in certain frequencies, a melody like the one offered by the new Fiat 500 does not seem to be an option.
German: https://youtu.be/LblhsxcmT4E
English: https://youtu.be/G4SiyeVXeXU
+++ TEST DRIVE OR TEST STAND +++
The test drives are getting closer and closer, and one question is open:
a) prefer a smaller hub in the city center with one vehicle (cheaper, more cities possible, an SVC for the Development in Munich) or
b) two vehicles and driving option for real test drives.
All previous mood tests were not clear on this. The slide that was shown on YouTube Live (today's cover picture) clearly suggests “one vehicle”. Nevertheless, the spontaneous vote was not very clear (43% for two vehicles and real driving, 57% for one). Since reservations were mainly asked here, the majority of whom have already driven (even if only the old prototype), the query may be distorted - new interested parties might vote more in favor of the driving option.
Personally, I would say: if it is important for development to have an SVC2 in order to meet the deadlines, then priority is #1. Then only one vehicle can go on tour. If the second is not needed, the goal is to inform the community and, in particular, to win NEW customers. Test drives with a prototype are something special, especially for people who have never driven electrically. Not an easy decision.
You can already book appointments for MUNICH, from July 5th (tomorrow) up to and including July 16th.
https://sonomotorstour2021.as.me/schedule.php
+++ THE HOFF IS (BACK) +++
There are two news to report at Sono Digital:
New screenshots from the app: start screen and power sharing. Above it says “The Hoff is” (the “back” is missing). Only 12 letters fit in the field with the name of the vehicle. You can then call your Sion “SunBro” or “Solaire”, but “Praise the Sun!” currently does not fit. Will certainly change. Later on, customers can customize their Sion and give each vehicle a personal and unique name.
https://twitter.com/hmitsch/status/1407971746184114178/photo/1
UPDATE: I was told that this intended! And in fact its pretty cool once you know it. The car is named “Hoff” and it should read “The Hoff is parked & Solar charging”. It’s just misleading because “The Hoff is Back” is the latest album of the guy who was looking for freedom for so long and destroyed the Berlin Wall single handed with just his music. It would have been clear with any other name.
The second quarter is over, and Sono Digital's goal was to clear up the greatest uncertainties:
insurance for the time a car is rented out
automated payouts of the proceeds.
check whether the vehicle can also be used completely without telematics (i.e. mobile phone and backend). All three seem to have been resolved as desired.
https://twitter.com/SonoMotors/status/1410921279138537474
+++ NEWS FROM THE DEVELOPMENT +++
The sprint review from calendar week 22 (end of May / beginning of June) is here. The report is always at the back, we see the status before last month.
The development is on schedule, except for the steering.
It is currently being planned how many pre-series SVC3s should be built (I remember 40-55 from a previous slide). These are the ones for example for crash tests.
OnBoard Charger planning and validation continues.
Highlight: “MLA update in PMCS clarified”. PMCS are polymer matrix composite materials, the "outer skin". And MLA is a Manufacturing License Agreement, an agreement between the inventor and the manufacturer. I can't tell exactly what the highlight is. Butw hen Sono is happy, I'm happy too. Possibly the inventor is actually Sono Motors and the manufacturer is NEVS or Valoe or whoever supplies the panels with the integrated solar.
A better position has been found for the antenna - the supplier is satisfied.
The SVC2 “Salt” has new damping elements and the vibrations are significantly less. “Pepper” has to be rebuilt.
https://sonomotors.com/site/assets/files/6377/sono-motors-dev-sprint-review-cw22-21.pdf
+++ NEW STICKERS +++
Colletable stickers are in high demand during the soccer championship. There are also new stickers from Sono in yellow and petrol blue, free of charge. The size is not given, please remember, the old one was huge.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSecz8EtVznGtoAsYwoBJR3-3JrrDVzV6QU1m1UMfEMTLiSbAA/viewform
+++ ENGINEERING EXPLAINED+++-
Jason Fenske from the “Engineering Explained” YouTube channel is covered a very specific question: “Why are there no solar e-cars”. Fun fact: He comes to the conclusion that it is possible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7L1_zvqg73Q
+++ JOBS +++
Sono currently has over 200 employees. Over 50 jobs are still open. The tour crew appears to be complete, and the tour cook's position has also been taken.
https://sonomotors.jobs.personio.de
On “Kununu” there is now a lot of feedback on the application process (mostly good if the applicant was accepted, bad if not):
https://www.kununu.com/de / sono-motors1 / bewerbung
+++ FUN FACT +++
Today there are even three fun facts.
# 1: First the joke of the month: "If Sonomotors were to build a VAN what would it be called?" - gloBULLI.
# 2: Movie tip. A fictional i3 with a solar roof played the main role in the Bavarian state police slapstick “Hubert without Staller (139) - A pedestrian sees red”. Of course the wallbox falls off the wall, of course the charging cable is too short. But it is funny that the solar electric car drives off independently like “Herbie the Beetle” and thanks to the solar roof it can cruise through the foothills of the Alps forever.
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7osmz6
# 3: In the Sono Youtube Live it was said that as a car manufacturer has few options to adjust the pedestrian warning sound. Fiat has taken the sound to the next level: If you want to listen to what the Fiat 500 currently has you can do this at the bottom of the page of the new Fiat.
The Sion would have to call up Haindling, K6 Kolletiv or the Wise Guys to match this. @Sono: Here we expect even more creativity from you! Another emotional element to add to the Sion!