Sono Motors is ending its lengthy-awaited electrical motor vehicle application and alternatively pivoting to a enterprise that aims to offer its solar motor vehicle technologies to other firms.
The German-centered firm, which went general public in November 2022, declared Friday it is laying off 300 staff members as a final result of the change in small business model. COO Thomas Hausch is also leaving his posture.
The change appears to be driven by a 1-two punch of a large-price tag EV application coupled with quickly depleting cash. Sono Motors has been plagued by money issues for a long time, at one stage just about shutting down completely till it appealed to and acquired assistance from folks as a result of a crowdfunding campaign.
The Sion EV application, when the unique centerpiece of the corporation, has been a steady drag on its funds. The enterprise reported an estimated 90% of its funding demands for 2023 have been devoted to the Sion EV, a $25,000 5-seater hatchback that was intended to go into manufacturing later on this yr.
Sono Motors will now turn its consideration to offering a technology that it designed for its Sion EV: photo voltaic embedded into the motor vehicle. The company’s organization will retrofit and combine its photo voltaic know-how, which consists of energy electronics and application, onto industrial autos such as buses as well as automobiles manufactured by OEMs.
“This pivot marks a substantial phase in Sono Motors’ small business development,” Sono Motors CEO and co-founder Laurin Hahn stated in a statement. “Even however we experienced to terminate our original enthusiasm venture, the Sion plan, shifting our full emphasis to business-to-business solar options supplies us with an prospect to continue to produce revolutionary items in the solar space. It was a tough conclusion and regardless of extra than 45,000 reservations and pre-orders for the Sion, we were being compelled to react to the ongoing fiscal marketplace instability and streamline our business.”
Sono claimed it has 23 business-to-small business buyers currently that are piloting its integrated solar technological know-how on a array of automobiles, which include 3rd-get together OEM vehicles, buses, refrigerated motor vehicles and leisure vehicles. Sono explained it’s doing the job with Mitsubishi Europe, CHEREAU and Volkswagen subsidiaries Scania and Man Truck & Bus.
The German-primarily based firm acquired its begin in 2016 when co-founders Jona Christians, Laurin Hahn and Navina Pernsteiner — trying to find a way to cut down society’s dependence on fossil fuels — kicked off an bold prepare to build an electric powered passenger car that was partly powered by the sunshine. (Pernsteiner still left the corporation in 2020.) From afar, prototypes of the Sion motor vehicle looked like a compact auto with black paint. Upon closer inspection, the overall exterior of the motor vehicle was really comprised of hundreds of photo voltaic cells that had been built-in into polymer instead of glass.
In January 2021, the firm announced it planned to license its solar physique panel technology to other companies. These photo voltaic cells change daylight into electricity, which is saved in the vehicle’s battery. At the time, Hahn stated the technological innovation will make cars fewer dependent on charging infrastructure. It can also assist auxiliary electricity applications these as the electric power utilised to electricity a refrigerated truck.
A product or service, dubbed the “Solar Bus Kit” is prepared for the 2nd quarter of 2023.