#42 (EN): FUSA Items 100%, Crash Simulation, RoboJunk
Happy Sunday. Today's news is number #42 in 2021!
Usually "42" is the answer to everything - today it's all about Sono. Get your towels ready!
+++ HIGHLIGHT: SPRINT REPORT +++
On Friday, the latest sprint report from development was released. Some teams at Sono saved themselves in the design freeze until the end of November, now of course we are watching closely.
SVC3/SVC4 Volumes and Purpose defined. Nothing new for us 11 SVC3 to be completed in spring 2022 at the prototype line in Trollhättan, and about 40 SVC4 in the fall of 2022.
Interior: two weeks ago "Cost Feedback" for the sun visors was still open, now it is available. Also cost estimates for other components are now there. The info on prices of the first aid kit should come after "end of summer vacations", but are still not available. Well, technically "after the end of the summer vacations" is until the beginning of the next summer vacations.
Steering wheel and steering column need to be redesigned, should be done by November.
Infotainment would like to know urgently what steering wheel controls are now available. The supplier still hasn't sent final confirmation. Hen. Egg. On the plus side, the infotainment has one less blocker (rear camera).
Chassis is the "troublemaker" in the list - with the most open points, along with doors and flaps. On the brake side, the knot seems to be broken, "FUSA Item Definition - 100%, Tech file for Foundation Brake - 100%". Great! 14 days ago it was 80 % and 50 %. There are still some lowlights and blockers, we don't read anything new about the AHK yet... Let's look ahead.
Logistics, Purchasing and Quality have the topics under control, no blockers, almost no lowlights.
https://sonomotors.com/site/assets/files/7243/sono-motors-dev-sprint-review-cw36-21.pdf
+++ ELECTRIC CAR NEWS +++
Every now and then, electric car news brings longer reports on the Sion and Sono Motors. "Sebastian" (namesake of mine, beyond that not related or in-law) has published a detailed article about the YouTube Live and the development updates. A good summary as we find.
https://www.elektroauto-news.net/2021/sono-motors-insider-neuigkeiten-entwicklung
+++ ROBOJUNK +++
Old robots and accessories from the factory in Trollhättan are currently being auctioned. The stuff is apparently 20 years old and older. Critics suspect that here is tried to mobilize still some euros.
My thesis is different: 100 SEK (Swedish Krona) for a 10 meter long conveyor belt weighing several tons is the equivalent of 10 €. The most expensive offer is a robot for 5,000 SEK, just €500. Most of the bids go away at any minimum bid. What is being done here is to save the scrapping fee.
If interested I can ask what exactly it's all about, I know who knows, just didn't want to disturb that person in the weekend - the news came late Friday night at GoingElectric. The credit for the finding goes to "ZapCar". Respect, super close look!
Of course there are also some funny parts. Sono is currently in Sweden with some people, maybe they dust off some traffic light lanterns for the next Sprint report ("Lampellare")
https://psauction.se/item/view/684503/lamppelare
If anyone is interested in an ABB robotic arm, here's the list:
+++ STEEP THESIS +++
Thomas (COO at Sono Motors) - known to many as the inventor of the "1000 kilometers without recharging" slide - followed up at the IfA Congress: "The e-cars of the future will be solar e-cars. If only because the charging infrastructure is not sufficient for all e-car drivers to always be able to fully charge their cars at the socket."
"Hausch is convinced: 50 percent of the range of the Sion comes on average via the solar modules - with an average driving distance of 12,000 km per year. If the technology catches on, 30 million people across Europe could drive e-cars without ever having to go to a charging station, according to the manager."
https://www.autohaus.de/nachrichten/autohandel/liveticker-der-ifa-kongress-2021-2946463
I fully agree that PV on every car makes total sense. We should put solar on every rooftop of every house, and every car should also add it’s share.
I would slightly disagree with Thomas on the "less charging infrastructure needed" argument, because the Sion has to connect to charging stations in winter like any other BEV - so it doesn't really save charging infrastructure. It uses it less in summer, but charging points are not built seasonally, neither public nor private. I can also prove my thesis - if you want to know how charging is done throughout the year, here is the data from Berlin (spoiler alert: evenly distributed over time; people to not drive less in the winter).
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aba716/pdf
+++ BUDGET BATTERY +++
A positive background report on LFP cell chemistry has appeared on Edison. Tesla has shown how to use it to implement high charge rates, and VW also attests to the LFP cell chemistry's long battery life of 16 years. The Sion is also mentioned.
https://edison.media/verkehr/die-budget-batterien-kommen/25221075/
https://twitter.com/SonoMotors/status/1449035907848417287
+++ CRASH SIMULATION +++
In the PDF from the development update, the graphics for the crash were linked to a video, but you needed a password to view it. On Twitter you can now see a short version of how such a crash simulation looks like. Andreas had already linked it in the group. And Asti is firmly of the opinion that the headlights of the 2021 version look different. They are now pulled up sideways.
https://twitter.com/SonoMotors/status/1447504862195982341 (animated GIF)
https://sonomotors.com/site/assets/files/7242/sono-motors-development-update-community-en-1.pdf
+++ FUN FACT - THG-QUOTE +++
Many of us already drive E-car. Every e-car driver will get 70-150 € in the next year. This is made possible by the "GHG quota" - GHG stands for greenhouse gas reduction. It was actually designed to motivate service stations in Europe to set up fast-charging stations. Every kilowatt hour charged at the filling station can be offset against CO2 penalties by a factor of 3.
The absurd thing about this: by the factor of three, mobility is already calculated to be completely climate-neutral when we have a third of e-cars on the road. A mechanism has been created here that makes Europe climate-neutral on paper.
Germany has gone one step further: Each e-car is calculated at a flat rate of almost 2,000 kWh - the vehicle registration document suffices as proof. In addition, the electricity that is charged may be billed again completely individually.
This makes it completely absurd, because it offsets the electricity in the e-car by a factor of 6. With a 20% share of e-cars, car mobility in Germany is already climate-positive. This is not the way to protect the climate.
At the moment, providers are springing up like mushrooms to collect e-car vouchers as a scan, which they then gold-plate. From 75 € (Maingau) to 130 € (eQuota, geld-fuer-eauto.de) wild sums are promised, however all with a small asterisk. The real price will not be known until February 2022, and the gold miners have already announced their intention to retain at least 30%.
On top of that, the process is extremely poorly controlled. With little effort, a vehicle registration certificate can be registered with several suppliers, which could increase the number again. The Federal Environment Agency, as the issuer of the certificate, would have to check, but there is little interest there, since the government only confirms the certificates but does not have to pay for them. And the more certificates there are, the better one stands in international comparison. From an environmental point of view, the GHG quota for e-cars is a fun fact. But one that makes money.
https://www.elektroauto-news.net/2021/thg-quote-verspricht-e-auto-haltern-jaehrliche-barpraemie
Have a great week, stay healthy.