The Munich start-up Sono Motors is launching a new electric car. The special thing about it: It should be the first inexpensive electric car that can charge its batteries with sunlight. However, the 54 kWh battery does not charge as quickly with pure solar energy as it does at a charging station.
The solar panels alone should produce an average range of 112 kilometers per week, with a maximum of 245 kilometers. The battery can be charged at the column with up to 75 kW, with this output 80 percent should be reached after 35 minutes. With a full battery, the Sion is said to have a range of 305 kilometers.
The moss in the interior serves as an air filter: it should absorb 20 percent of the fine dust.
Parallel to the Sion, Sono Motors has also developed a solar bus kit as a retrofit solution for companies and public transport operators, which is intended to reduce fuel consumption and emissions. With a solar area of approx. eight square meters, up to 1500 liters of diesel and four tons of CO2 can be saved each year.
Clean interior and decorative elements made of moss
The car is 4.47 meters long, 1.83 meters wide (2.08 meters including exterior mirrors) and 1.66 meters high, and the trunk has a capacity of 650 liters – with the rear seat folded down it is 1250 liters. For better aerodynamics and thus less range loss due to air resistance, the Sion is built extremely low. The front grill is disguised, and there is a spoiler lip above the tailgate.
The eye-catcher in the interior is a pane of glass with moss behind it. This is not a design element, it filters the interior air. The moss is supposed to remove up to 20 percent of the fine dust from the air via electrostatic attraction. According to Sono Motors, it requires no further maintenance.
The body of the Sono Motors Sion was covered extensively with solar panels. An average range of 112 kilometers per week should be achieved with this alone.
The rest of the interior is unfussy. There are two attached screens: one display serves as a speedometer unit, the other belongs to the infotainment.
Repair tutorials are designed to reduce costs
The three-phase synchronous motor comes from Continental and delivers 163 hp, the front wheels should have a maximum of 270 Nm of torque. It’s over at 140 km/h, which should protect the range. In order to keep maintenance costs as low as possible, the workshop manual should be accessible to everyone – both workshops and private individuals.
