Sono Motors is ending its long-awaited electric car program and instead focusing on a business that aims to sell its solar vehicle technology to other companies.

The German company, which will go public in November 2022, announced on Friday that it will lay off 300 employees as a result of a change in its business model. COO Thomas Hausch is also leaving his position.

Campaign

The shift appears to be driven by the one-time hit of a high-cost EV program coupled with rapidly depleting capital.

Sono Motors has been plagued by financial problems for years, at one point almost shutting down until it turned to individuals and received support from them through a crowdfunding campaign.

The Sion EV program, while the original focus of the company, has continually hampered its budget. The company said an estimated 90% of its financing needs for 2023 were dedicated to the Sion EV, a $25,000 five-seat hatchback due to go into production later this year.

Technology

Sono Motors will now turn its attention to selling the technology it developed for its Sion EV: an in-vehicle solar system. The company’s business retrofits and integrates its solar technology, which includes power electronics and software, on commercial vehicles such as buses as well as OEM cars.

“This key marks a significant step in the development of the Sono Motors business,” Sono Motors CEO and co-founder Laurin Hahn said in a statement.

“While we had to end our original passion project, the Sion program, shifting our entire focus to business-to-business solar solutions provides us with the opportunity to continue creating innovative products in the solar space.

It was a difficult decision and despite more than 45,000 bookings and pre-orders for Sion, we were forced to respond to the continued volatility of the financial market and streamline our business.”

Solar

Sono said it has 23 business-to-business customers today testing its integrated solar technology on a range of vehicles, including third-party OEM cars, buses, refrigerated vehicles and recreational vehicles. Sono said it is working with Mitsubishi Europe, CHEREAU and Volkswagen subsidiaries Scania and MAN Truck & Bus.

The German company began in 2016 when co-founders Jona Christians, Laurin Hahn and Navina Pernsteiner – looking for a way to reduce society’s dependence on fossil fuels – launched an ambitious plan to build an electric passenger vehicle that was partially powered by the sun. (Pernsteiner left the company in 2020.) From a distance, prototypes of the Sion vehicle looked like a compact car with black paint. Upon closer inspection, the vehicle’s entire exterior was actually composed of hundreds of solar cells that were integrated into polymer instead of glass.

In January 2021, the company announced plans to license the body’s solar panel technology to other companies. These solar cells convert sunlight into energy that is stored in the vehicle’s battery. At the time, Hahn said the technology would make vehicles less dependent on charging infrastructure. It can also support auxiliary power applications, such as electricity used to power a refrigerated truck.

The product, called ‘Solar Bus Kit’, is planned for the second quarter of 2023.

Tech

Sources: Techcrunch | Goodwordnews