Memmingen, 73%, GQ (EN)
During the Easter holidays, communication was a bit quieter among our favorite inventors from Munich. But of course, there is enough to report for a relaxing Sunday morning:
+++ MEMMINGEN +++
Last Monday, four reservations in Memmingen were allowed to take a close look at the Sion on-site at FAKTMotion. The new CTO Markus Vollmer was also on site. The snow was back, so it was a bit cold, but "sun in the heart" of the lucky chosen ones ensured that nobody was freezing.
There were also other vehicles in the hall for comparison, including the Renault Zoe from the sharing pilot.
Fun fact - Munich is a village: on my way to my office last Monday morning, a black Zoe flashed at me from behind on the A96 (Munich highway ring), and who was it? Laurin and Jona, on the way to Memmingen. Laurin had quickly recognized my black Polestar. Unfortunately, I then had to turn right into the office and could continiue to Memmingen....
https://www.instagram.com/p/CNaM77qHzEE/
https://twitter.com/SonoMotors/status/1379785432301502464
+++ INFOTAINMENT +++
A photo from Memmingen resulted in some critical comments on the net: The image was a picture from the infotainment display. It shows the option to switch from charging to discharging, the current range (130 km), and the state of charge (73%). It was quickly extrapolated that at 100% charge would only amount to 178 km.
But real e-mobilists notice something (and were quick to react in social media): the doors are open, the Sion is powered on, the air conditioning system shows the target is 22 degrees (celsius), the outside temperature is 6 degrees (celsius). So a lot of energy is consumed, but kilometers are only added during the short test drives.
The range calculation in any electric car acts the same: "I stand for an hour, drive a short lap, have to heat up to 22 degrees. If it goes on like this, you will only manage 130 km this way". It's like that in every electric car. In short - it is correct, and on the plus side: it seems to work, this is the way it is supposed to work.
https://twitter.com/LaurinHahn/status/1379824209380118529
+++ GQ +++
Men's fashion magazine "GQ" ("Gentlemen's Quarterly") has published a feature about the cars of tomorrow. The Sion is included. As always with GQ, the article is not unnecessarily distracted by facts or research. Nonetheless, the author has to be credited with the fact that he has again managed to bring positive news about smaller budget cars through the testosterone filters into the magazine.
https://www.gq-magazin.de/auto-technik/article/e-autos-abseits-des-mainstreams
+++ LINKEDIN ++++
A new post from Sono Motors appeared on LinkedIn, highlighting the Sion's software stack being developed by the team in Munich. Again, the clear goal is to attract capable developers. The software components used to build the platform are explained very transparently, which makes it easy for applicants to see where they might fit in.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/affordable-highly-advanced-software-side-laurin-hahn/
On Twitter, there was a picture of how a customer can manage a Sion user community in the app. Many do not want to share their Sion with the world in general, but with different user groups, with limited permission. The screenshot gives an idea how this could be adressed.
https://twitter.com/SonoMotors/status/1380459938296836100
+++ JOBS +++
Only one new job this week: IT support. Lots of employees, lots of IT problems between keyboard and chair.
https://sonomotors.jobs.personio.de/job/349294
+++ LEFT AND RIGHT +++
From 2022 every electric car from the Volkswagen Group based on the MEB ("Modular Electrification Kit") can return energy it to the grid. In addition to VW, the MEB is also used by the sister brands Audi, Skoda and Seat.
There is no information as to whether this will be "AC" (like the Sion or Renault trial) or "DC" like the Nissan Leaf. My personal assumption is DC for the "Voltwagen" for two reasons: DC (direct current) is much easier to implement on the manufacturer side because all the heavy lifting is pushed to the wallbox (such as conversion to AC, synchronization with the mains frequency, ...). The second argument is that there are no pilot projects for AC known from VW. You don't just roll out such a function for all models in 2022 if you haven't tested it beforehand. With DC, the test is easier because there is a lot of complexity in the wallbox. The disadvantage of DC is that the wallbox is much larger and more expensive, and many standard garages are tight. DC has been around in Japan since 2010, and so far, it hasn't caught on.
https://ecomento.de/2021/04/08/vw-will-bidirektionales-elektroauto-laden-in-die-breite-haben/
+++ FUN FACT +++
Over 50,000 (!) markers have been clicked in the last two weeks on the Sion reservations community map; in the meantime, reservation holders from over 20 countries have registered themselves (I only got the ones from D / AT / CH from Sono).
Last week I got some emails from reservation holders who couldn't find "their" POI above their house. All cases could be resolved; no data set was lost. The reason is almost also a fun fact: Sono, really (!) Only gave me the postcodes, not the full address, no locations.
So I could only put the point in the middle of the postcode area and not exactly in the correct position: data protection and such.
Of course, everyone can register exactly where they are (via "Additions" / "Add Marker Simple"); in the summer, I will lie down on the beach in Italy and then take out all automatic POIs where more precise hits have been added. Until then, don't panic; all the data is there.