#20: Sprint Review, Range Forecast, Ready for the Moon (EN)
Have a beautiful Sunday. The restaurants are slowly opening. Petrus does not make it easy for the hosts, rain everywhere. On Monday, after almost a year, I'll have my first "foreign assignment", I'm really happy. Technical problems with a "zero-zero" office complex (no CO2, no external energy supply).
Great location with one of the world's largest PVT system ("thermal photovoltaics"). Irradiation that the solar panels could not convert to power is converted into heat by a second layer. The best of the best. The solar system alone has over 1000 kW peak - as much as 830 Sions. For the residents there are e-cars in sharing, DC and AC charging stations on every corner, Sono would be delighted. But there are also delighting news from Munich:
+++ SPRINT REVIEW +++
The most important news from the Sonoversum is always news about the vehicle. Therefore it is always interesting when every seoncfriday a new "Sprint Review" is published. The main topics are currently:
fixing remaining errors in the two Roding prototypes (SVC2)
preparations for the final prototype "SVC3"
planing production together with NEVS.
Among other things, the PDF reports positive news on the status:
SVC2: Infotainment tests successfully completed, "OK for the test drives"
SVC3: Recuperation strategy defined. The Sion only gets one step, unfortunately it didn't say which one it is.
Two points are more critical:
The bidirectional onboard charger (OBC) still has troubles: The infotainment team reports: "OBC: end-to-end tests not carried out" and the DESS team (Drivetrain & Energy Storage Systems) reports in detail: "SVC2: OBC precharge error hard to solve. Especially if VCU resets are always needed.".
“New team: lots of preparation required (consolidating 3+ yrs and decisions of history for new engineers)”.
https://sonomotors.com/site/assets/files/6246/sono-motors-dev-sprint-review-cw16-21-1.pdf
+++ HERE COMES THE SUN +++
The solar integration should also be working when the sky is cloudy. Every now and then Sono posts a "translation" of the weather forecast to the possible range. Here is the current range weather report:
https://www.facebook.com/sonomotors/photos/a.306946649502287/1557362904460649/
+++ STATUS SYMBOL +++
In an interview with German magazine “Automobil Produktion”, Thomas Hausch, COO of Sono Motors, talks about difficult times, challenges in the production of the Sion and the strength of the Sono community. Interesting tidbits:
"Our customers are not defined by the status symbol of the car, but by the utility of sustainable mobility".
"13,000 reservations, the year of the ramp-up is basically sold out."
"Yes, we are convinced that solar panels for electric cars make sense. It just makes sense to use the outer skin of an electric car. And we are now supplying a technology for this to others"
+++ LEFT AND RIGHT +++
Electricity storage is an important building block for the success of the energy transition, as they can compensate for the fluctuating feed-in power from green electricity systems. A second large storage facility has now been put into operation in Munich to compensate for deviations between electricity supply and electricity demand (“balancing energy”). The containers from Siemens provide 10 MWh, as much as 285 Sions. More storage facilities are to follow, the model is successful. It shows: Storing energy is needed- and storing energy in battery storage systems has a future.
https://www.swm.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/05-2021/batteriespeicher-hkw-freimann
Incidentally, such storage systems are not that rare anymore in Germany
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_von_Batterie-Speicherkraftwerken#Deutschland
+ ++ IN THE PRESS +++
“Tesla” has to be in the headline when it comes to e-cars. Every startup becomes a potential “new Tesla”. There will be more than one car manufacturer in the future, so not everybody as to be a Tesla fighter. German newspaper “SPIEGEL” also needs the clicks, and therefore it has labeled the report about Sono “who will be the new Tesla - Sono, Nio or FF?”
The - to me totally unknown - portal "EV Shift" has a PR image of the solar integration in front of a MAN van. Why, where, no idea. Portals without an imprint are somewhat suspect. But it's out there now, and therefore here to complete the list:
+++ BIOGRAPHY +++
The biographies of the leading management are also available as PDF:
https://sonomotors.com/site/assets/files/5082/sono-motors-biografien-de.pdf
+++ FUN FACT ++ +
Did you know? The Sion could also drive on the moon. Due to the lower gravity, the unfiltered solar radiation and the lack of air resistance, 150 km a day by solar alone should be easy. Of course, it is of little use if you cannot visit anyone. The thought experiment is not mine but from from Lightyear, the premium competitor of Sono from Holland. Good guys. They are still in the race to bring the first solar car onto the market. After some delays, Lightyear hopes to hand over the first 10 vehicles this year, first on planet earth:
https://www.facebook.com/lightyear.cars/photos/a.431863380493692/1490193651327321/