#50 (EN): Sono App Silent Launch, FFAV, Impact Analysis
Happy Sunday - have a great third Advent. A very first version of the "Sono Carsharing" app has quietly appeared in the Apple and Google app stores. We took a closer look at it for you.
+++ HIGHLIGHT: SONO CARSHARING APP +++
Sharing cars: The Sion isn't here yet, but the Sono carsharing app has popped up in the app stores as an MVP (minimal viable product).
If you want, you can use it to share your existing car with friends and acquaintances for the time being. Our admin Andreas was already a beta tester a few months ago. The app is really not final yet, the core process works and can be tested.
Sono states: "Share your car with people you trust: friends, family, acquaintances, housemates, work colleagues, your neighborhood or even the whole village. So that stationary vehicles become vehicles. Download the Sono app and start sharing cars immediately”.
Any car that is less than 20 years old, has an output of less than 200 kW (272 hp) and cost less than €75,000 can be shared. Otherwise the Sono insurance does not take effect, which takes over while your car is rented out. It is not yet possible to simply make the car available for sharing for everybody, you have to actively invite others. So if you want to share with your village, you need the e-mail addresses of all village members for the time beging. It’s a soft start, overall.
Insight from when I tried to add my Polestar 2: about ⅓ of all e-cars on the market have more than 200 kW, and so has the Polestar. For the insurance it’s not the peak performance - but here the "30 minutes average power" that counts. The Polestar 2 has 300 kW printed on the side of the car. But in the long run, it can "only" do 160 kW, so it qualifies for the app. You can find the correct number in the papers of the car (in Germany it’s P.2 in the registration).
Registration is quick, you just need your e-mail. Before you can actually rent or offer a car, you also have to clear a few other hurdles, a selfie with your driver's license is required before the first rental, a credit card for payment as well. If you want to have the money in your account at the end for renting vehicles, you have to register with Ayden (a payment service provider) in the app.
But that's how software development works today - release a basic product (MVP) and then learn from customer feedback and get better.
More info "Sono Carsharing" App:
Download link iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sono-carsharing/id1491734103
Download link Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=world.sono.go
+++ FFAV +++
Sono has paid the interest on the FFAV loan. Two and a half million euros were collected as a loan as part of the 50 million euro campaign. Two years are up, three years are still to go before repayment. There is an interest rate of 6%. One or the other should have seen this on his account.
https://invest.sonomotors.com/projects/592-sono-motors-nachrangdarlehen-2019/emissions/759-20191108
+++ Q&A IPO SONO LIVE +++
Info on the Sono IPO is now flowing in writing here:
You still can't buy Laurin's sweater. I made an appointment for Monday at my local hairdresser - after seeing the pictures with myself.
+++ LINKS +++
The old elektroauto-news article from namesake Sebastian has been updated. Basically with info from IPO-live, so not really new - including the speculations around NEVS.
https://www.elektroauto-news.net/2021/sono-motors-hoffnung-alternativ-plaene-zu-nevs
Evergrande remains an issue, they can't pay, but nothing new from Sono point of view for now:
Energy flows - all the time, from the sun - and solar is "in":
+++ WE DRIVE SOLAR +++
Utrecht is working to become the world's first bidirectional city - already Utrecht is the largest Vehicle To Grid project in the world. In an interview with Fully Charged, We Drive Solar gives some more info about the motivation to have ordered 100 Sions.
https://youtu.be/L_BYDKz3_Jg?t=819
+++ UNITI +++
Besides Sono, Lightyear, X-Bus and Uniti from Sweden are also still trying to bring their vision of electric mobility to the road. Uniti wanted to build its own state-of-the-art manufacturing facility. However, it has been silent since 2019. Now Uniti has just one week to raise fresh funds or the project is finished. We're keeping our fingers crossed.
https://ecomento.de/2021/12/06/uniti-droht-die-insolvenz/
On LinkedIn, Unity's CEO himself tells the whole story: this is how the story begins, "In the early days of the company, we were very public. We just loved keeping people up to date on all the excitement of building this dream." Lots of details on Unity - from open communication to investor promises falling through financial barriers to now on the verge of bankruptcy. Only just before they are now allowed to raise money from other source, will it be enough? We can only keep our fingers crossed for them - and be glad that things turned out differently with Sono. The value of the community - i.e. us - becomes very clear once again.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-happened-uniti-unitisweden (engl.)
Update: The founder of Uniti posted the above story from a sailing boat. He is on a trip around the world for three months already. Well. I feel sad for the employees and fans left hat home dealing with all this.
+++ FUN FACT +++
If you like it scientific, I have something for you: a scientific paper by the Hans Böckler Foundation: "New players in the automotive market 2021 and their impact on existing industries". On 20 pages, the history of Sono is presented on the basis of numerous sources. Sono's influence is currently thought to be mainly in the area of "solar integration" on vehicles.
(PDF can be downloaded for free)
Have a nice Sunday, stay healthy!