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#7 (EN): Highlight & Lowlights, Uniti, a little juice

Have a nice Sunday. Another week gone, the snow in Bavaria is slowly melting away. There is some little remains left in the Isar valley, in Munich itself there is already spring.

+++ SVC3 +++

We are still waiting for pictures of the "final" Sion. You can get an impression of the new front in the small Sono video "How we build a car digitally to be more sustainable" on Youtube. Our cover picture today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8yPcKywk4M

+++ SPRINT REPORT +++

The first Sprint Report from 2022 is here. Through the Youtube-Live the main findings are known, but on the 43 pages in the PDF you can read one or the other in more detail. Tip: The live is now also provided with German subtitles.

Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nuWuztcM64

Highlights

  • "Dash panel tool is in trial process": there are trial runs with the press tool to build the dashboard.

  • "Locator hole in high speed crasher possible" - Locator holes are positioning aids, apparently you can put them where they are helpful. Someone at Sono is happy about being able to put it in the right place - and has named this a sprint highlight. I can't judge but if they are happy I am happy too.

  • "First SVC3 keyfob was 3D printed. Supplier will send us the model for reference". Looks like the first car key came right out of the 3D printer and the manufacturer sent it to Sono. Photos please!

  • "POs for all infotainment parts sent to suppliers (for the exception of antennas)" . POs are "Purchase Orders", i.e. binding orders or purchase orders. The infotainment team chased everything out except the antennas. Congratulations.

  • "Supplier confirmed that 474 A can be delivered 10 x 20s." Good news for the friends of repeated traffic light starts. 10 times in a row, over 470 amps can be called up before the battery has to dial down a bit to keep from getting too hot. That's over 180 kW. That means you have a quarter of the power available that a subway needs to start.

Lowlights

There are also challenges, and just a few of them:

  • "Unsourced SSCM holding up I/P, shroud, steering wheel and driver airbag. SCCM supplier sourcing ongoing". Still missing steering wheel supplier, impacting other departments.

  • "eCall: Waiting on OEM to give approval on supplier nomination": apparently there is a supplier for the eCall module, but the supplier needs to clarify with an existing OEM if they can give this to Sono as carry over part.

  • "Final OBC decision for SVC3 needed (affects OBC, Type 2 socket, VCU, harnesses, etc.)": The bidirectional On Board Charger (OBC), the eternal problem child. A decision is still missing, that has to be done now, because there are harnesses and the Type2 plugs as well as adjustments to the central unit hanging on it.

  • "CAD Integration: Rear LF antenna location needs updated due to trailer hitch complexity": The position of the rear antenna needs to be updated due to the trailer hitch. The good thing, there really is a trailer hitch, the problem: it robs the antenna of space or reception, by means of which you can open the trunk keyless.

  • "Solar body panel > potential effect on SVC3 vehicle appearance". We had this topic on Youtube Live: the more expensive the tools used to make the panels, the better the quality. Soft tools probably make good surfaces, but not quite as nice. The main thing is not wavy.

  • "Steering Wheel Button final concept not completed. Too many stakeholders being involved makes it hard to come to a final design that satisfies them all". Welcome to real life. When it comes to the difficult questions, everyone quickly leaves, but when it comes to a head on the steering wheel, everyone is suddenly a federal coach. It seems that the design and function of the steering wheel knob is still being fought over between all sorts of parties. Our tip is to have a look at our American friends. There are two "trackballs" on the steering wheel in the Tesla, which can be linked to various functions as desired. However, this is not easy for third parties, as you can no longer see which function is triggered in which way. The community has already been asked which buttons are important. We as a community would be happy to answer again, but for that you would have to know the entire operating concept.

  • Fun Fact: "Crash & Saft-Ey": I can't go out on a limb when it comes to spelling mistakes. A fun typo is found in the headlines in the Sprint Report - "Saft-ey" instead of "Safe-ty". “Saft” in German means “Juice”. May the juice be with you. "Crash and Saftey" could be the names two main characters of an 80s tv series - or a PS5 game.

Source : Sprint Report

https://sonomotors.com/site/assets/files/7570/sono-motors-dev-sprint-review-cw02-22_1.pdf

+++ V2G +++

The "Wirtschaftswoche / High Voltage Podcast" has taken up the topic "Vehicle to Grid". The chief lawyer of Lichtblick is interviewed on the topic of "virtual power plants" - i.e. cars as buffer storage for grid stabilization.

Sono also started out talking about itself as an energy provider. 275,000 Sions could be bundled a power plant. In addition to GHG quotas, virtual power plants are another way to make money from BEV/SEVs in the future. There is talk of potential earnings per car per year of around 100 to 200 euros (at today's electricity prices). The report does not yet mention the Sion. Lichtblick has tested with the E-Up from VW.

For this to work, the wallbox must be able to communicate in any case - at least that is already ensured with the announced box from Sono.

https://www.wiwo.de/unternehmen/energie/podcast-high-voltage-e-autos-statt-atomkraftwerk-lichtblick-will-virtuelles-mega-kraftwerk-bauen/28052120.html

+++ COO INTERVIEW +++

Thomas in an interview with KFZ-Betrieb: Unfortunately, the interview is behind a paywall. In the interview it is addressed that the SVC3 should be presented "at the end of the first half of the year", build-up of production this year and delivery then in 2023.

https://www.kfz-betrieb.vogel.de/partner-im-service-noetig-a-1090992/

+++ ADAC: NEW BEV +++

The Sion has made it as number 32 (again) in the list of potential new releases at ADAC. The linked text about the Sion is good (but older) - some info is outdated.

https://www.adac.de/rund-ums-fahrzeug/elektromobilitaet/kaufen/neue-elektroautos/

+++ CLICKS +++

The Fully Charged YouTube episode about the Sion from 4 months ago has surpassed the mark of more than 375,000 views. And overtaken the first show about the Sion three years ago!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLZKdkgB85k (2018)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5LKU6bWScc (2020, 378,000 views)

The video is ranked #2 in Fully Charged top views for the last six months and both are ranked 73rd and 74th out of 712 episodes of FC since the channel launched 10 years ago. Trend for both continues to rise. So interest is definitely there out there. Thanks Daniel for the hint (by mail).

+++ LEFT AND RIGHT +++

It is currently difficult times for e-car startups. Rivian had to face setbacks in production volume, Faraday Future has accounting problems and Lordstown is still struggling with listing the correct number of reservations. Uniti, from Sweden another e-mobility startup went under intense scrutiny:

https://www.focus.de/auto/news/uniti-one-soll-ein-hoax-sein-fake-auto-und-geister-fabrik-ist-die-welt-auf-einen-elektroauto-schwindel-hereingefallen_id_50067976.html

At this point, as a Sono follower, we have to say a big "thank you" to the critics of Sono out there.

Without the constant support of the community - but also the criticism of the last years, there wouldn't be the advisory board seat to represent reservation holders. There would not be the return of the reservation number for all new reservation holders in the not so distant future or the map of reservation holders on Zeemaps.

Without the criticism, there would also not be the transparency from Sono in bi-weekly development Sprint reports and the Youtube live events with questions directly from the community.

If Sono manages to get the Sion on the road, it's also thanks to the critics that look closely on everything Sono does for years.

+++ THE HALL +++

Opposite the "headquarters" in Waldmeisterstraße is a curry sausage booth, behind it is the "Halle" (insider tip: if you visit Sono and there is no parking space available - there are some more here, if no one parks his yacht on it, see SebNews 37/2021 cover picture). In the Hall, they are working on solar, there is also the solar truck from last year's video, and various test setups.

Newly on the Sono homepage is an interview with the solar experts and what they are doing there. What is not there: there are also two lifting platforms for the prototypes and a very special test facility for solar. If you ever visit Sono, ask if you can take a look inside.

https://sonomotors.com/de/blog/forming-the-future-of-solar-technology/

+++ FUN FACT +++

The luxury brand Rolls Royce - part of the BMW Group - is going all electric. From 2030 onwards, the British will no longer produce combustion engines. The new Rolls "Spectre" will be purely electric, there will be no hybrid. No wonder, since the electric motor is far superior to any 12-cylinder engine in terms of smoothness. And Rolls Royce has had autonomous driving since 1904 - thanks to the chauffeur.

For the E-Rolls, the company is working intensively on the CW value, among other things - and of all things, the radiator mascot "Emily" has to slim down.

https://www.dmt-puls.de/news/rolls-royce-wenn-emily-sich-duckt/

BMW's electric models themselves are getting bigger and bigger, but that's no problem for marketing: for tonight's Super Bowl, Arnold Schwarzenegger is dressed in additional armor and drives through Palm Springs as Zeus - so the car doesn't seem so big anymore. The teaser spots are really funny and put the topic of e-mobility in the right light:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxXrtoZh6_k (BMW Teaser 1; "Starbucks")

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUC1QA5gRcU (BMW Teaser 2: "A little juice, Zeus?")

Stay healthy. Have fun.

Seb, Asti, Andreas, Wolfgang!