The automotive future is green, electric, solar-powered and moss-filtered. That’s the idea of a Munich-based startup that will soon be producing and selling a car to solve many of our environment-related issues.
Sono Motors is the company and Sion is their offering for a greener alternative to petrolheads. Sion will go into production in the second half of 2019 in Germany, and will effectively go on sale the next year, in 2020. You can pre-order your customizable Sion now: over 6,000 reservations are already in place.
Sion is powered by 330 power cells integrated in the bodywork, particularly on the hood, side doors and roof. That means that you can charge it while you drive, which certainly beats the current offering of electric cars.
However, for good measure, Sion is also electrical. You can charge it from a conventional power outlet or from another electric car, and Sono Motors guarantees a range of 250km (155 miles) on a single charge. The maker doesn’t say how much of that is from solar power and how much from the electric charge.
Sion will also have bidirectional charging, which means the energy it generates can be used for other things, too. It can come in handy while camping, to power an external light or a cooker.
Another interesting feature is breSono, which is actual moss integrated into the dashboard, which acts as air purifier. Moss is proven to filter out dust particles, so Sono Motors is putting some in your car. You don’t have to water or take care of it in any special way, so you get the most benefits with the least effort. It doesn’t get any greener than that.
Sion will come in 2 forms, Urban and Extender, with prices ranged from €12,000 for Urban to €16,000 for the Extender. Extender comes with double the range in a single charge: 250km (155 miles), as opposed to 120km (75 miles) for the Urban.
The downside is that Sion will probably come only in black, for the solar panels to work. But it will be a cheap, sustainable and environmentally-friendly car that combines comfort with practicality.
“We have a seat heater, there is air conditioning, there is a large infotainment system where I can also connect my phone interactively, which means I really have a full vehicle which is very simple, has no frills,” Laurin Hahn, co-founder and chief executive Sono Motors says.
Sion is powered by 330 power cells integrated in the bodywork, particularly on the hood, side doors and roof. That means that you can charge it while you drive, which certainly beats the current offering of electric cars.
However, for good measure, Sion is also electrical. You can charge it from a conventional power outlet or from another electric car, and Sono Motors guarantees a range of 250km (155 miles) on a single charge. The maker doesn’t say how much of that is from solar power and how much from the electric charge.
Sion will also have bidirectional charging, which means the energy it generates can be used for other things, too. It can come in handy while camping, to power an external light or a cooker.
Another interesting feature is breSono, which is actual moss integrated into the dashboard, which acts as air purifier. Moss is proven to filter out dust particles, so Sono Motors is putting some in your car. You don’t have to water or take care of it in any special way, so you get the most benefits with the least effort. It doesn’t get any greener than that.
Sion will come in 2 forms, Urban and Extender, with prices ranged from €12,000 for Urban to €16,000 for the Extender. Extender comes with double the range in a single charge: 250km (155 miles), as opposed to 120km (75 miles) for the Urban.
The downside is that Sion will probably come only in black, for the solar panels to work. But it will be a cheap, sustainable and environmentally-friendly car that combines comfort with practicality.
“We have a seat heater, there is air conditioning, there is a large infotainment system where I can also connect my phone interactively, which means I really have a full vehicle which is very simple, has no frills,” Laurin Hahn, co-founder and chief executive Sono Motors says.