#1 (EN): Happy New Year, 60 New Jobs, Off Grid Energy
Happy New Year! The Sonos are still on vacation until Monday, so nothing new from the official news feed. All recend news are mostly “canned communication” from last december.
+++ 2022 +++
A lot of exciting things await us this year, some cliffs have to be navigated around. From the schedule on the homepage, the F1 filing from the IPO and the Sprint Report, we know what's coming up:
First quarter: We should start with the findings from the design freeze. At some point, results would have to tumble out, which things have now been changed.
Spring: The next prototype generation must be built (on the soft tools) - SVC3 and SVC4. The processes of manufacturing must now move towards series production. As a reminder, in the video the other day it was explained that the soft tools can still be used for the first customer vehicles without any problems - so no delay due to tooling.
NEVS continues to be in troubled waters. The often well-informed "SaabBlog" writes: "Things are happening in Trollhättan that could be considered strange. NEVS, after a recent mass layoff, is looking for 20 new employees."
https://saabblog.net/2021/12/28/im-abwaertsstrudel-gefangen-schreibt-nevs-neue-stellen-aus/
In China at the parent company Evergrande New Vehicles, chaos has finally broken out. In China, nothing works without a permit and a license - and the MIIT (the Motor Transport Administration of China) had already listed the first car from Evergrande NEV - the Henchi 5 (type: HDE6470BEVA1F), announcing sales for 2022, but then took it off the list again at short notice. The first vehicles from the factory are already photographed. All a big question mark.
Test drives SVC3: Test drives with the SVC3 are expected for summer. There are several vehicles being built, most are for development but there are also some in the pipeline for the community. (Source: F1 Filing)
+++ THE WAY TO SOLAR ON EVERY VEHICLE +++
A new video from Sono went online on YouTube. You can see excerpts from the investor video from the run-up to the IPO (which is unfortunately no longer online). From 2:30 Mathieu explains again the special features of the solar integration on polymer basis instead of glass. It becomes clear once again that this is also to become a supporting business segment of the Sono Group:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmiZUkRArok
+++ NEWSLETTER +++
Yesterday we received the December newsletter from Sono. Nothing new in there in it that we didn't already have in detail.
https://mailchi.mp/sonomotors/monthly_12_de-523450
+++ FLASHBACK +++
Exactly two years ago today (2.1.2019), the 50 million campaign went into overtime by vote:
https://twitter.com/SonoMotors/status/1212751697287794688
Four years ago today there was one of the first questions in the Facebook group, Manfred wanted to know if the guarantee of two years would remain:
https://m.facebook.com/groups/sonosion/permalink/655211574869567
Axel quotes from Sono's Q&A: "We will probably not be able to communicate the warranty on the battery until shortly before delivery."
A timeless answer, in retrospect.
+++ GERMANY: NUCLEAR PLANTS OFF THE GRID +++
Three of the six nuclear power plants in Germany were taken off the grid at the turn of the year (Brokdorf, Grohnde, Gundremmingen C), and now only three reactors are still running, two in the south, one in the north. They will finally be shut down at the end of 2022.
The French reactors still have reserves to compensate for this, and the coal phase-out in Germany has been postponed until 2038. And we must not forget that we have built up 62 gigawatts of wind capacity in recent years - that is more than the entire France has nuclear power potential if the wind is blowing.
If you are looking for hard facts about what is happening in the power grid, I recommend the live direct view into the power grid with all energy flows:
https://app.electricitymap.org/zone/DE
It's worth taking a look and also clicking on the neighboring countries. What is missing are storage options. It is therefore urgently time to get bidirectional charging underway. And if anyone says anything about "battery recycling" of electric cars: there are still a few thousand Castor containers in Gundremmingen alone, I really prefer battery recycling. The next years we will be busy with the search for the ideal repository in Germany.
Here is input on battery recycling if needed:
Audi and RWE will be testing what discarded car batteries can still do in second life in the future.
https://eautocity.de/neues-leben-fur-benutzte-batterien-audi-und-rwe-machen-es-in-herdecke-moglich
+++ JOBS +++
Laurin posts a good 60 jobs on LinkedIn (automatically/partially translated). Just let the list itself sink in…
Automotive Engineer Interior Electric Vehicle (f/m/d)
(Senior) Mobile App Developer (f/m/d)
Automotive Battery DVP Engineer (f/m/d)
Patent Engineer (m/f/x)
ADAS Test and Validation Engineer (f/m/d)
Automotive Battery Integration Engineer (f/m/d)
Automotive Cost Engineer Electric Vehicle (f/m/d)
Automotive EE Systems Architect (f/m/d)
Automotive Crash & Safety Engineer Electric Vehicle (f/m/x)
Automotive Test and Development Engineer Powertrain (f/m/d)
Automotive Test Engineer Battery Systems Electric Vehicle (f/m/d)
CAD Engineer Complete Vehicle (f/m/d)
DVP Engineer - EDS (f/m/d)
Agile Coach Group Sion (m/f/d)
Test Engineer for Functional Safety (m/f/d)
Head of Battery Automotive (m/f/d)
Head of Complete Vehicle Development Electric Vehicle (f/m/d)
Integration Engineer Powertrain (f/m/d)
Junior Project Engineer Automotive Body (f/m/d)
Lead Engineer Automotive Crash & Safety Electric Vehicle (f/m/d)
Lead Engineer Automotive Interior Electric Vehicle (f/m/d)
(Senior) ERP Specialist Finance (f/m/d)
(Senior) Financial Accountant (f/m/d)
Employee Accounting (f/m/d)
Intern/ Working Student Accounting (f/w/x)
Intern/ Working Student Controlling (f/w/x)
IFRS Reporting Manager (f/m/d)
Communications & PR Manager (f/m/d)
Group Manager Marketing (m/f/d)
(Senior) Full-Stack Developer (f/m/d)
(Senior) Product Marketing Manager (f/m/d)
Plant student (f/m/d) - Sono Digital
Technical Project Manager Wallbox Development (f/m/d)
Production Engineering Manager (f/m/d)
NVH Automotive Engineer (m/f/d)
OBC Development Engineer Bidirectional Charging System (f/m/d)
PowerLine Communication Development Engineer Bidirectional Charging System (f/m/d)
Project Management Production Engineering - Body (f/m/d)
Project Management Production Engineering - General Assembly (f/m/d)
Release Manager Automotive Electric Vehicle
Resident Engineer Automotive Body (f/m/d)
Senior Manager Automotive Body (f/m/d)
Software Test Supplier Quality Engineer (m/f/d)
Control Engineer for Steering Systems (m/f/d)
Serviceability and reparability engineer (m/f/d)
Validation Engineer Bidirectional Charging System (f/m/d)
CAD Engineer (w,m,x) - Solar
Chief Product Owner - Transportation (w,m,x)
Design Verification Engineer (m,w,x) - Solar Integration Sion
Development Engineer Solar Integration Technology (f/m/d)
Development Engineer Solar Technology (w,m,x)
Engineer (w,m,x) with focus on development and test
Integration Engineer Batteries and Solar Systems (f/m/d)
Trainee Solar Power Electronics (f/m/d)
MCU Firmware and PV Modeling Engineer (m/f/x)
Project Engineer - Automotive Exterior Solar Integration (w,m,x)
Project Engineer - Junction Box (w,m,x)
Project Engineer Prototypes (w,m,x)
Research and Innovation Project Coordinator - Solar Integration (w,m,x)
Senior Product Marketing Manager (w,m,x)
Senior Product Owner Sono Solar (m/f/d)
https://sonomotors.com/de/career/
+++ SOLAR INTEGRATION: REASONABLE OR ALIBI? +++
Björn from the blog "Mobility Talk" has created an overview of e-cars with solar integration, the Sion is of course included. New on the list is Toyota, who actually didn't want e-cars at all, but are now launching a whole range of vehicles. Among them is the "E-SUV bZX4" with a solar roof. Up to 1,800 km additional range is promised per year. The square steering wheel will not be available until later, and the price starts at €40,000:
https://mobility-talk.com/solarautos-gute-idee-oder-alibi-stromquelle/
+++ AWARD +++
Awards always decorate. For 200 € you can register for the "Green Product Award". A jury then decides whether one is "selected", then another 950 € are due and a category is created. In the category "Mobility" are five participants, and there are four prizes, so the chances are good. If you want, you can still increase the chances for the Sion, just click here on "Vote".
https://www.gp-award.com/de/produkte/the-sion
Two other interesting contenders (in other categories,so no danger for the Sion as an award winner):
Flexible solar cells for ski lifts from France:
https://www.gp-award.com/de/produkte/solar-module-ev
The "Niagara Shadow 0.8 GPF" water-saving toilet with "vacuum-assist stealth technology. 800 g payload of #2 can be moved with "noise cancelling technology" for silent flushing, if you are interested in the technical details.
https://www.gp-award.com/en/produkte/shadow
+++ FUN FACT +++
Former photographer Simon from Canada bought an old boat from the 70s three years ago - for $4,000 and converted it into a floating "off grid" home. Since then, he has been traveling around the world as a nomad with his dog "Honey".
5 kilowatts of peak solar, 20 kWh of on-boat-storage and even a washing machine is on board. His motorboat travels up to 50 kilometers per day on the power of the sun alone, and thanks to the electricity storage he can go even further. Every Wednesday he reports directly from the boat on youtube.
This gives a whole new meaning to the question from the community about the size of the Sion's trunk and whether it can hold a washing machine. And also the question about the power socket in the trunk. After the housing crisis in the U.S. many had to live in their cars for some time - and there was the saying "You can sleep in your car, but you can’t drive a house".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyE8dfnwdfQ
Stay well. Have a very great 2022. Here's to the next 52 weeks with Sono, the Sion, the little inofficial sono news and the community. See you at the test drives.