#37 (EN): Open House Review, Wallbox Community Reaction, Boat.
Have a beautiful Sunday. Here are the latest inofficial news from the Sono universe.
+++ STATUS +++
For those who don't always follow this Sion news blog every week: The current vehicles at the test drives are the SVC2, the Sion as defined at the end of 2020. It was built with money from the community at the end of 2019. These prototypes (“Salt & Pepper”) are close to the series version - but some things have since been redesigned due to Community feedback (tailgate, charging flap) or because Sono itself has recognized that it is not yet the optimal solution, like the “wobbly” solar integration, missing reversing camera or the emergency brake assistant.
Highlight of the improvements are the larger battery, now with 54 kWh, 75 kW charging power, LFP cell chemistry without cobalt - and a range of over 300 km.
All this is not yet implemented in the SVC2, it will be visible in the next iteration, the SVC3.
In a few weeks there will be the official “Freeze”, then it will be clear what the final package will look like, no more major changes. There are currently only two major last-minute requests from the community left, all other high priority issues have been resolved:
230V socket in the interior
Towing capacity: Clarity in tongue weight and trailer maximum load (braked and unbraked)
Two informations on the list are expected next from Sono:
Information on financing of the series production
Images of the final Sion (of course, this requires the freeze, so we cannot expect it in September, it will be lather this year). As we know Sono, it only do it with some major media buzz.
+++ OPEN HOUSE +++
Sono did not officially participate in the IAA, but had an alternative offer going on : Sono “Open House”. The entrance of the headquarter has been converted into an expanded showroom - there are many exhibits related to Sion's history to be explored.
On Friday, the German Federal Association for E-Mobility (BEM) hosted its convention there, along with 60-80 guests, On top, the famous video blog “Fully Charged” filmed an episode about the Sion. The afternoon was reserved for test drives of community members and potentials buyers. The program continues until Sunday.
The main fuse of the location blew around noon because so many electric cars were charging on the outside, the buildings maximum energy load was exceeded. One more reason to get the Sono wallbox ready as quickly as possible - and then to install load management.
Sono will provide the content of the open House digitally a few days after the end of the show.
https://twitter.com/SonoMotors/status/1436278544380878848/photo/1
Nico Rosberg was also there. He works with his company TRE on the chassis, in the next iteration - SVC3 - you will be able to experience that for yourself.
+++ SONO DIGITAL / CARSHARING +++
Sono Digital is serious about the Sono sharing app. In the last pilots projects, up to 12 people have shared one vehicle. This reduces the cost for the individual , less space for parking is needed. Sono plans to make 295 million in revenues with this service in 2025.
To make it happen, more cars than just the Sion needs to be added to the shaing solution. Sono says: any other car can be integrated into the sharing app, even combustion engines. "Our goal is to become the largest car sharing platform without owning a single vehicle.". App launch is planned for 2022.
There will be an option hardware to make existing cars “connected”, but it will also work completely without any modifications. The classic handover of keys would also work. There were also suppliers of such “connected addon-on hardware” in the audience, one of whom spontaneously installed a test device into my Polestar to show what they can do.
The Polestar was still missing in their collection to test, so it was a “win-win” situation. I can see what they can do, they can complete their interface.
I think I “forgot” to tell him that I already have other test hardware in my car, from a large “vehicle inspection service provider”, installed under the hood. I'm very curious to see who has the better data. If they're better, I'll organize a meeting.
One thing is sure: the digitization of the existing vehicle fleet is a huge opportunity, and adding existing vehicles to a new digital service is a thing.
https://twitter.com/SonoMotors/status/1436327017088229380/photo/1
https://sonomotors.com/de/press/press-releases/sono-motors-carsharing-service-expansion/
+++ NEGATIVE CHARGE +++
Kyle Conner from InsideEVs was at the Open House early this week. His impression of the SVC2 was negative. “No where near production”, “The driving experience was absolutely worse than trash”, “The roof became wobbly in the sun”. He thinks that the vehicle is no where near for a “freeze” in 30 days.
He's right on a couple of points.The roof is a little wobbly - but the reason is known and fixed in the next version. It’s development with limited resources.
The chassis in the SVC2 is okay, but nothing more. That's why Nico Rosberg and TRE are on the team. The result of their work will be visible in the next version, nothing of this in in the SVC2 yet.
The prototype was driven by 500 people already. The ID.4 and the electric Porsche in which he was sitting the day before was brand new.
At the end of the video it becomes a little clearer why Kyle is so negative about it: expectation management. He expected to see the final series Sion pre launch - and not a development stage. I’m curious about his reaction on the final Sion, I’m sure he will be impressed. Kyle was very positive about the team, so there will be a second chance to impress for sure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PylCC_zeIsg&t=3337s
He looked more motivated on site:
https://twitter.com/itskyleconner/status/1435935802832338952/photo/1
+++ SONO BIDIRECTIONAL WALLBOX +++
The feedback on the bidirectional wallbox was overwhelming. I received a few emails but Sono itself is still working on all the replys. It struck the nerve. There is one thing I learned from the feedback: "Emergency power" is important to you all. From a purely statistical point of view, power failure in Europe is a marginal issue - we habe 12 minutes power outage per year on average. This does not justify large investments on the private side. Even if that would happen every three weeks, a refrigerator buffers it away. And when the big disaster comes, the freezer is the smallest problem.
There are certainly also critical applications in private households, such as seawater aquariums or medical devices. But in an emergency (and you are at home) a cable at the Schuko socket from the Sion would also do good.
But I've heard the voice loud and clear. many people value the complete approach including seamless backup power.I'll add this to my wish list for the demo wallbox installation.
+++ SONO.COMMUNITY +++
This weekly report appears on https://sono.news for quite some time. The community has evolved, there is a lot coming up - and sono.news is no longer suitable.
Therefore I am renaming https://sono.news to https://sono.community . The old links will all continue to work, and sono.news will redirect to the new home. New content will come up shortly.
+++ FUN FACT +++
Parking is always an issue in Waldmeisterstraße near Sono HQ. Parking spots are tight. We were quite surprised to see a boat trailer on one of the paking spots, especially at a packed evet like the Sono House. What is that about? We could not figure it out yet.
Boat?
ViSono for boats with solar integration on the Tegernsee? Maybe a new video will be shot to showcase the tow bar?
Boats are fun in advertisements, but there is the ultimage video alreay out there that killed the internet: FlexTape. Incidentally - as with the first Sion presentation in 2017 - it also comes with an electric side cutter as a prop.
By the way, the guy in the video is Phil Swift. He founded the FlexTape company in 2011 - and today the company has over 100 employees.
https://youtu.be/0xzN6FM5x_E?t=70 Have a
Have a nice week!