Munich-based Sono Motors GmbH today announced the expansion of its community car-sharing service beyond its Sion SEV (solar electric vehicle) to all vehicles on the market. The service expansion aims to activate the potential of millions of cars that go unused every day, according to the company.

The car-sharing service is enabled by the Sono app, a custom-built platform that unites all the company’s digital services. The app represents a key pillar of Sono Motors’ business model, and it is expected to generate a platform service revenue of €295 million (about $348 million) by 2025.

Through the expanded service users can share their vehicles with a selected group of people. Unlike other peer-to-peer sharing services, the offering is said to give owners the comfort of knowing that their vehicle is in safe and trusted hands.

Sono Motors uses the same digital capabilities set up by the in-house team for its app that allows Sion owners to share their vehicle, a ride, or power with others. Regardless of manufacturer and motive power type, the company will now offer to everyone car-sharing capabilities including payment processing, insurance coverage, and optional telematics integration.

The community car-sharing service is said to be convenient to set up. Initially, physical key-handover for all car models will be supported via a seamless digital process within the Sono app. A fully digital, hardware-powered solution will soon follow to make the process even more convenient.

“47 million vehicles in Germany stand around on the roads unused for 23 hours a day, taking up valuable space,” said Laurin Hahn, CEO and Co-founder of Sono Motors. “We must start using cars more efficiently. In order to do this, we want to offer community car-sharing beyond the Sion, with the ultimate goal to become the largest car-sharing platform without owning a single vehicle.”

As demonstrated by Sono’s pilot projects, the adoption of community car sharing can increase vehicle utilization by as much as 150% compared to usual car usage. It can also reduce car owners’ monthly costs by up to 85%. On average, 12 people share one car, which can significantly reduce the space needed for parking.

“Building these sharing services within our Digital Group, we have been able to gain immense business and technology know-how, making private car-sharing easy and attractive for everyone,” said Johannes Bückle, Sono Digital Head of Product.

Sono Motors is currently expanding its service to selected car owners and their communities across Germany, with the aim of gathering more data and customer feedback for incremental development of the service. The company is taking an inclusive approach for its customers, regardless of locale, making the service available to both urban and rural areas. It will continually expand the service and make the Sono app publicly available in 2022.

Once the Sion hits the streets, Sono Motors believes it will provide what will likely be the largest fleet of shared vehicles in the world. It says that this will help to facilitate real change in how society uses resources by making car-sharing available to the masses as well as reducing the number of vehicles on the streets.

 

Preparing for Sion charging

The Sono Motors team is continuing the development of the Sion SEV, its integrated solar technology, and innovative mobility services to enable users to access clean mobility, harness solar energy, and reduce CO2 impacts.

Earlier in September, Sono Motors said it would fulfill the community’s desire for an affordable wall charging station suitable for vehicle-to-grid (V2G) and vehicle-to-home (V2H) charging with the first bidirectional AC wall box on the market. The wall box enables the Sion to be used as a mobile power plant and to feed stored electricity either back into houses or the grid. Homeowners with photovoltaic solar systems can especially save a lot of money as they are able to use more of their own electricity without having to buy an expensive home storage system.

The Sono wall box charges and discharges the Sion with up to 11 kW via the integrated Type 2 charging cable and will save up to 70% of costs incurred by DC bidirectional wall boxes available to date. Customers can reserve the new wall box free of charge, with delivery expected when the Sion hits production in 2023.

The design of the first wall box will be decided by the community. The 14,000 plus reservation holders have a choice of three designs. Voting via the wall box landing page will take place until September 13 online or live until September 12 at the Sono House, a press and community event at Sono Motors’ HQ in Munich held concurrently with IAA Mobility 2021.

 

Bigger Sion battery

After consultation with its community, in June Sono Motors said it would provide a higher capacity 54-kWh battery for the Sion. The new battery extends the vehicle’s total range to 305 from 255 km (190 from 158 mi) and its maximum charging power to 75 kW from 50 kW. The new LFP (lithium iron phosphate) battery is considered to be one of the safest on the market, and also completely dispenses with the use of cobalt, nickel, and manganese.

“In our survey, more than 90% of our existing reservation holders voted for a more powerful battery,” said Hahn. “Boasting greater capacity, greater range, faster charging, enhanced safety features, and no cobalt, nickel, or manganese usage, this improved battery will strengthen the Sion’s unique market position even further.”

In addition to being effectively non-flammable, the enhanced battery has an increased life span of up to 3,000 cycles or 900,000 km (560,000 mi). The additional range provided by the Sion’s solar panels remains unchanged at a weekly average of 112 km (70 mi)—245 km (152 mi) per week at its peak.

“The growing EV market is generating enormous demand for longer-lasting, more sustainable batteries,” said Markus Volmer, Chief Technology Officer for Sono Motors. “This enhanced battery enables Sion drivers to extend the time between charges, whilst reducing the charging time itself. This effectively optimizes the Sion to deliver easy and affordable sustainable mobility for everyone.”

The Sono wall box is capable of fully charging the Sion’s 54-kWh LFP battery in about 5 h. In addition, the Sion can be charged at fast-charging stations at a speed of up to 75 kW DC via the integrated CCS interface, to a charge level of 80% in around 35 min.