Sono Motors is doing its best to remain at the forefront of everyone's news feeds this week. When Sono Motors announced it had received over 20,000 preorders for its forthcoming Sion solar EV, the company also revealed a new partnership for the retrofit installation of solar panels on city buses. Sono's sales of solar-electric cars have gone up to more than 32,000 units, and FINN, a platform for renting cars, has increased the number of Sion cars it has reserved to 12,600 units.
One of the few promising automakers, Sono Motors was founded in 2016 in Germany and is dedicated solely to producing solar electric vehicles and practical solar cell technology. The Sion, the company's flagship model, has proprietary solar panels built into its exterior that can add 70 to 150 miles of range per week.
At a July party, Sono Motors unveiled the Sion solar electric vehicle's production design, which featured several upgrades to the vehicle's appearance and operation. Anticipation among European businesses and consumers for the Sion, which is scheduled to go into production in the second half of 2023, keeps rising.
This week, Sono Motor announced that it had received more than 20,000 direct reservations from customers. The average downpayment of around 2,000 euros adds up to over €40 million in non-binding reservations, and over 502.5 million euros should all those reservations solidify into purchases.
Along with releasing the Solar Bus Kit, Sono Motors also announced an intent to partner with PNV-Service Hagen. As part of the public transportation industry's effort to retrofit solar technology, PNV-Service Hagen is expected to provide installation, servicing, and logistics services.
Sono Motors, a startup producing a solar-powered electric vehicle called the Sion, announced a new agreement with an existing customer today.
Sono's latest order for solar electric vehicles is another signed Letter of Intent. The first business-to-business (B2B) reservation for Sono Motors was made by FINN, a Munich-based car subscription platform with offices in both Germany and the United States. Their reservation for 2020 is the most recent one.
FINN's initial, the non-binding reservation was for 5,500 Sion solar electric vehicles. However, the subscription provider hopes to increase that commitment to 12,600 EVs to build a complete fleet of sustainable vehicle offerings for its customers.
Currently, only 30% of FINN's fleet is electric, but with an increased order of solar electric vehicles from Sono Motors, the company hopes to become more environmentally friendly. Although Sion production is expected to begin in 2023, Sono has stated that it will not start delivering EVs to Finn until 2024, with an initial volume of only 100 units.
However, Sono Motors plans to deliver an additional 2,500 Sion vehicles to FINN annually after that, which, if all goes according to plan, will fulfill the current order by 2029. Sono Motors could sell over 32,000 solar-powered electric vehicles to customers by the decade's end, thanks to the 20,000 preorders they've already received.
Sono Motors (SEV) may or may not produce the world's first mass-market solar electric vehicle, but it has a good chance of doing so. Assuming reservations turn into firm orders, we should have a better sense of delivery numbers by this time next year.
