The IPO of Sono Motors was already on the horizon at the end of last year. At that time Manager Magazin reported that the €45 million financing round completed in December 2020 was part of the preparations for the IPO. The valuation of the startup was €250 million with this financing round. Shortly afterwards – in January 2021 – the Munich-based company presented its first company at the CES Two new prototypes. In addition to a new model of the Sion, a photovoltaic trailer for trucks was also on display.
In April of this year, however, Sono Motors had to announce a setback: The production start of the Sion, planned for 2022, had to be postponed to 2023. At the same time, the startup, founded in 2016, also announced that it had already 13,000 private customer reservations for his electric car. These are deposited with an average down payment of 3,000 euros. According to Handelsblatt Pre-orders had grown to 14,000 units by the end of August, resulting in a net cash inflow of 38.8 million euros.
Other manufacturers rely on solar modules from Sono Motors
In addition to its own electric vehicle, Sono has also established a second pillar with its solar panels. Since October 2020, the Munich-based company has been operating a Project collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISEThe photovoltaic trailer for trucks, which was first shown at CES, also represents this development. It was manufactured in collaboration with the Finnish solar manufacturer Valoe.
At that time, Jona Christians, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Sono Motors:
"We've found a way to deliver sustainable, free energy across multiple modes of transportation by replacing the traditional paint process with integrated solar technology. Because Sono's solar technology is cheaper, lighter, and much more efficient than conventional glass solar cells, I'm very excited about the potential uses that come with its incredible flexibility."
MAN Truck & Bus has been testing another of these new applications since May 2021. Since then, the two companies have been jointly testing a Integration of solar panels by Sono Motors on three different versions of the MAN electric van. The energy generated by the solar panels is intended to increase the range of the vehicles and power auxiliary devices such as air conditioning – very similar to the Sion itself.
