What to do when you're dissatisfied? Exactly, don't complain, but look for a solution yourself. That's what the three founders of SONO MOTORS thought, too. They were anything but satisfied with the existing range of electric cars—too expensive, too unsuitable for everyday use. Therefore, they simply developed the Sion themselves, an affordable and practical electric car with integrated solar cells. The Munich-based startup is currently working on a Crowdfunding campaign To raise capital to realize several near-production prototypes by the beginning of 2017.
As with so many startups, the story of SONO MOTORS It all started in a classic garage. Around four years ago, the three founders, Jona Christians, Navina Pernsteiner, and Laurin Hahn, began building the prototype of the Sion, an electric car with integrated solar cells in the body, in their garage at home. One of the founders, Laurin Hahn, explains their motivation as follows:
"We finally wanted to see change and could no longer stand by and watch our environment being destroyed. The Sion is our answer."
An answer that offers a range of 250 km, fast charging, and a price tag of under €16,000. But the Sion is more than just an electric car. Bidirectional charging allows external power consumption of up to 2 kW for all common electrical devices. This also makes the Sion a mobile power storage unit. Examples of applications include disaster relief, camping, and commercial construction sites of all kinds.
Another innovative approach is the breSono system: Moss is integrated into the interior of the dashboard, which acts as a natural air filter and filters fine dust particles from the air using electromagnetic charging, without requiring any maintenance – it couldn't be more environmentally friendly.
And that is precisely the goal the team sets for itself – to find innovative and environmentally friendly solutions and to break new ground:
"We're not a large corporation, and we don't have a large investor behind us. We're just ordinary people with the will to do something different. We're now a diverse team of designers, developers, technicians, and students, some of whom have many years of experience in the automotive industry."
The biggest challenge: Production of the Sion
The idea of a solar-powered car isn't new, though; just think of the images from the Solar World Challenge in Australia. However, these vehicles can only run in sunlight. That's not the case with the Sion, which is essentially a standard electric car. The only difference is that the battery also charges itself.
All of this sounds very plausible. Nevertheless, the founding team also faced some challenges in developing the Sion. When asked what the biggest challenge is, Laurin answers:
"Clearly the production of the Sion. This includes approval requirements such as crash tests and EMC testing, production management, and financing. And all of this on time."
The plan is now to build several near-production prototypes by the beginning of next year. Delivery of the Sion is then targeted for 2018.
With the crowd to the prototype
To realize this project, SONO MOTORS is now bringing the crowd on board. The three founders decided to take the route via a Crowdfunding campaign to remain as independent as possible. In her pitch video, you can learn everything about her project:
The campaign now aims to raise capital to reproduce the prototype for crash tests and test drives. Supporters can secure a test drive with a €100 contribution. This test drive will serve as a basis for a decision for or against purchasing a Sion. A classic presale, in other words, designed to generate sufficient capital to realize production of the Sion in 2018 together with existing automobile manufacturers and suppliers.
By the way, everyone can support the campaign with smaller contributions starting from 5€. The SONO MOTORS crowdfunding campaign is running on Indiegogo until the beginning of September.
These are ambitious goals that the young founding team feels well-supported with in Munich:
"Munich is a good fit for us due to its economic stability and high level of expertise in the automotive sector. Its world-renowned universities are also ideal for recruiting qualified specialists. Furthermore, many automotive suppliers are located in the city of Munich, which further facilitates cooperation."
says Laurin. Her private life also beats for Munich; after all, two of the three founders are true Munich natives. When they have time, they love to be on the Isar. And who knows, maybe in the near future they'll be driving a Sion to the Flaucher for a barbecue. We'll stay tuned.
If you would like to support SONO MOTORS: Click here for the crowdfunding campaign.
