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Startup automaker crowdfunds solar electric car to be built at ex-Saab factory

The Sono Sion electric people mover will be built at the former Saab factory in Trollhattan, Sweden.


Sono Motors has raised €53 million ($86 million) from a crowdfunding drive during the months of December and January.

This figure exceeded the company's initial target of €50 million ($81 million), and will allow it to contract out production of the Sion EV people mover to National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS).

If all goes according to plan, the Sion will enter production in 2022. In Germany the Sion is priced from €25,500 ($41,300), but the company is also planning on selling the car for around €16,000 ($25,900) and charging a rental fee for the battery.

The Sion is an electric people mover measuring just 4.29 metres from nose to tail, and is fitted with 248 solar cells across its roof, doors and bonnet.

In optimal conditions this solar array can generate 34 kilometres of range per day. With its 35kWh battery pack fully charged, the Sion has a range of 255km under the WLTP standard.

Sono says the Sion takes around 13 hours to be fully recharged via a standard electrical socket, but this can be cut down to 3.5 hours using a Type 2 charger or 30 minutes from a CCS station.

Powering the Sion is a 120kW/270Nm electric motor, and the car has a claimed top speed of 140km/h.

Around of 75 per cent of the crowdfunding money was raised from reservation holders, with 19 per cent coming from new and existing investors, and the remainder thanks to loans and donations.

Sono launched its crowdfunding campaign in December 2019 after it failed to come to an agreement for further financing with "traditional investors", which would have seen the company lose hold of its patents and technologies, as well as control of its destiny.

NEVS is the Chinese automaker which owns the manufacturing rights for Saab's 9-3, as well as the brand's Trollhattan factory, but lost access to the Saab brand in 2014 after it entered bankruptcy protection.

The company currently builds 9-3-based vehicles in China, and owns a 20 per cent stake in Swedish hypercar manufacturer Koenigsegg.

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