In the coming months, Sono Motors plans to test, validate, and certify the Sion before the solar electric vehicle (SEV) rolls off the production line next year. The test vehicles will undergo practical tests under extreme conditions in Europe and the USA. This includes testing in various climate zones, optimizing the solar technology, validating and tuning the driving dynamics on test tracks and in road traffic, and crash tests.
"The start of the series testing phase is another step on our path to climate-friendly mobility of the future. Getting from the initial concept in a garage to this point was only possible with hundreds of engineers working daily on the Sion and our Sono Solar technology. The fleet of validation vehicles now follows our successful second-generation prototype program and paves the way for series production planned for next year,"
says Jona Christians, CEO and founder of Sono Motors.
Final design in summer 2022
The fleet of 37 third-generation vehicles consists of 16 full-size vehicles and 21 test vehicles. The public premiere of the Sion in its final design is planned for summer 2022. A portion of the series validation vehicles is expected to embark on a Europe-wide test drive tour at that time.
Sono Motors is supported by Thyssenkrupp Automotive Body Solutions and Bertrandt in the production of the series validation vehicles. Markus Volmer, Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of Sono Motors, says:
"Both partners not only have extensive expertise in automotive engineering but also the necessary infrastructure and capacity to produce our test vehicles quickly and with high quality. This puts us on track for the Sion testing."
As an expert in integrated body construction solutions, Thyssenkrupp Automotive Body Solutions is responsible for the production of the aluminum space frame. Bertrandt has decades of experience in holistic vehicle development and is responsible for assembling the Sion test fleet in Munich.
Electric car for under 30,000 euros
The Sion will launch with a planned gross price of €28,500. According to the company, the vehicle's outer skin will consist of 458 seamlessly integrated solar half-cells, enabling self-sufficiency over short distances. The energy generated by the solar cells is expected to extend the range of the Sion's 54 kWh LFP battery by an average of 112 km (up to 245 km) per week. Complementing solar integration, bidirectional charging technology is expected to transform the Sion into a sustainable powerhouse, capable of supplying electronic devices, the home, or other electric vehicles with up to 11 kW of power.
