Test Drive Pirates, Ioniq 5, Summer School (EN)
+++ TEST DRIVE PIRATES +++
There is still no official information on whether and when test drives will take place again. But now there is a solid indication: five job postings have appeared on the job platform "Monster.de". An eight-person temporary support team is being put together for test drives, starting on 04/15/21 to 10/15/21. Sono is looking for:
a team leader/captain
a cook (!)
A press officer
a video content blogger,
Crew / team members.
If the job description would not explicitly mention the test drives, one might think that they are seeking the crew of a pirate ship. A full-time cook - to feed the team? Where the heck do test drives take place?
Update: The posting is now also on the Sono homepage:
https://sonomotors.com/de/career/job/?id=327480
+++ CONTI / VITESCO +++
Many are currently wondering what these have to be completed until Sono can finally start series production. In the last video from the test track, we could already see that the new prototypes are at least "real" prototypes. Some things work, some things don't, completely normal.
A new video shows some of the engineers at work. With Conti and Vitesco, professionals are tasked with integrating the drive train into the Sion. There is also a whole series of glossy drone shots and a few statements from Thomas Hausch/COO at Sono Motors:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHkAdDMNiRg
+++ URBAN GARDENING +++
"Urban Gardening "is what the kids at Hackerbrücke in Munich call it when they roll a cigarette. The Facebook Sono-Fan-Group moderator Andreas is a non-smoker, and "Urban Gardening" for im means maintaining communal garden areas in the city. With his green thumb, he not only approves the posts in the Facebook group. He was also participant in the Zoe Sharing pilot from Sono - an which brought him a visit as part of a WDR documentary on climate change and what you can do about it (from minute 10, it's about Sono, from minute 15, Andreas can be seen):
If you don't know the host of the show - "MaiLab" - here is a clip with Caroline Kebekus and MaiLab: "Scientists also have feelings": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIjJedupOLU
+++ SEEDRS +++
Sono has posted an update on Seedrs and summarized the information from the last few weeks. Trading in shares has been suspended since the last round of financing with the 45 million, and it will remain so for a while.
https://www.seedrs.com/businesses/sono-motors/sections/market
+++ ELECTRIC CAR NEWS +++
There was a report on the “community advisory board tasks” on the well-known site "Elektroauto-News.de."
https://www.elektroauto-news.net/2021/sono-motors-beirat-naechsten-jahren-grossen-wandel-sehen
+++ PARTS FOR FUTURE +++
The top 10 community contributions to design innovative add-ons for the Sion have been selected. Next Tuesday evening is the "Kick-off" event. Some proposals have been dropped because only one contribution per person is allowed to go into implementation. I am super curious to see the other participants. My gut feeling is that it will be hard for Ali from Sono Motors to assemble ten teams on such short notice: the implementation roadmap and requirements had to be provided within three days - and people do this in their spare time. Fun project, non the less.
https://projects.opennext.eu/+sonomotors/sion-parts-for-future
+++ LEFT AND RIGHT +++
Hyundai is getting better and better at the IONIQ series. The current version 5 of the vehicle comes with an optional solar roof, - of of first ones on a pure electric vehicle. On top, you get an electricl outlet, and 800V technology for ultra-fast charging up to 350kW. The charging electronics are provided from the EV specialists Rimac in Croatia, who also contribute their technology to the Porsche Taycan.
For the complete package with solar, Hyundai calls for well over € 40,000, i.e., outside the Sion price segment. For the version with a trailer load of 1600 kg, the all-wheel-drive has to be activated, and then you quickly end up at 59,000 €. This is a serious alternative to ID.4 and Model 3.
https://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/elektroauto/hyundai-ioniq-5-2021-rimac-technik-gegen-id-4/
The whole thing was discussed in detail in the Sono group on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/sonosion/permalink/1583049982085717/
Lucid Motors went public and raised a whopping $ 4.4 billion in funds. At the same time a postponement was announced, the Lucid will not come until the beginning of 2022.
https://ecomento.de/2021/02/24/lucid-motors-geht-an-die-boerse-elektroauto-air-kommt-spaeter/
The shift was actually to be expected. Last autumn, Lucid had around 50 prototypes on the road - built at the factory intended for series production. It is usually at least 12 months from there. Now Lucid is back in a "timing" of what is to be considered “doable”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WslL6alQUns
+++ FUN FACT +++
The TU Munich Management School offers compact seminars in the summer. Jona (CEO of Sono Motors) is one of the guest speakers on the subject of "Sustainable Entrepreneurship". The cost of 1,790 € for the two week seminar is within the usual price range. Fun fact: hiking in the Alps is also part of the study (without Jona, he is busy working, I suppose).