#6 (EN): Maker-Parts for Future, Sion-Check, Chili-Solar
Have a beautiful Sunday! Here are once again last week’s little news from the Sono universe:
+++ MAKER SCENE +++
Last year we had already found out that Sono, together with the TU Berlin (industrial information technology), could raise money from the “Horizon 2020” fund. We didn't know exactly what the grant was for. Now we know: it's about “open source accessories”. Anyone who has an idea for Sion accessories now has the opportunity to pitch the idea until February 14th:
https://sonomotors.com/en/sion-parts-for-future/submission
A public vote will then run until February 21, 2021 to determine which ideas are the best. The result will be available on February 25th. Development will start early March. Intermediate results will be presented on March 30. The final results will be presented on May 4th. Students from Berlin are also allowed to take part, I am hoping for a few creative ideas here.
https://wikifactory.com/+sonomotors/sion-parts-for-future
+++ SION-CHECK +++
As announced las week, I will soon have the opportunity to take a closer look at the prototype on behalf of the community - before the new test drives officially start for everyone when the Covid lockdown is over. I received a lot of feedback from you what to check - and updated everything in the checklist (link below). There was a lot of feedback on interior and exterior details, but very little on “driving”. Topics can still be reported for a few more days.
https://sono.news/testdrives/virtuelle-probefahrt
+++ TWITTER +++
The survey about the last possible changes was a great success, over 16,000 participants submitted their feedback. Results will be communicated in the next few weeks. About half of the participants - according to their own information - also reserved the Sion.
https://twitter.com/SonoMotors/status/1356978198500769799
The bidirectional charging in the prototype seems to work at least to some extent. In the picture you can see how current is delivered to a BMW i3 via the type 2 charging plug. If you make the image brighter and zoom in, you can see that the i3 is at least not connected to the Schuko socket, so it looks valid. 11 kW is not yet possible according to the text. But this is engineering - first of all you have to be sure that it is fundamentally possible, and then increase the performance. Old electrical engineering wisdom: every electrical device works with smoke - if it escapes, it is forever broken.
https://twitter.com/LaurinHahn/status/1357639704292839424
+++ JOBS +++
Nine (!) New jobs have been added since last week. Because of the sheer mass, just briefly the titles:
Project Engineer - Mechanical Integration Sono Solar
Lead Vehicle Dynamics Engineer
Project engineer for solar integration
Development engineer for solar integration
Communications & PR Manager Sono Solar
HR business partner
Manufacturing engineering lead
Quality Engineer - Problem Management
Solar integration intern
The whole list, over 40 open positions at the moment:
https://sonomotors.jobs.personio.de/
+++ DETAIL VIEW OF THE CONTROL LEVER +++
We already had the video itself last week here in the summary. But I did not notice until yesterday: the driver's seat and the the control levers at the steering wheel can be seen at 1:10 minute. The video is uploaded in 4K, so you can see a lot of details if you look closely: there are +/- buttons on the cruise control lever, and the windscreen wiper has an “auto” setting, so there must be a rain sensor somewhere.
https://youtu.be/41RyJoEoCDQ?t=70
+++ IN THE PRESS +++
There wasn't much to be found in the press last week. A press release with the title “How solar cells conquer the car” went on the DPA ticker - with a mention of Sion. And then copies appeared - with small adjustments - in the regional press. In terms of content, it was always the same: Examples:
T3N added a little more to the mix:
https://t3n.de/news/elektroauto-solar-energie-strom-sonos-1353329/
In addition, a video about the CES preparations from mid-January has appeared (English):
https://cheddar.com/media/sono-motors-debuts-next-generation-prototype-of-solar-electric-vehicle
+++ FUN FACT +++
A new miracle battery or “breakthroughs” in solar efficiency are regularly announced somewhere.
A message last week stands out from the crowd: Researchers at the “East China Normal University” have found out that the performance of solar cells can be increased by adding capsaicin (the substance that makes chili hot). The background to the research approach is unknown. I'm guessing that someone accidentally spilled a portion of Hot Pot Chicken Szechuan over a wafer and had to write a research paper as a punishment. Seasoning the solar cells seems to improve the final product. If you want to find out more, the network offers three levels of explanation, depending on your previous knowledge:
Level: "Facebook Virologist"
Level: “P.M. Magazine"
Level: "Mattiheu"