Sono Motors is killing its solar powered car

Lots of car kills when its time finally comes. The Audi TT will take its final bow later this year, Toyota CH-R will not see the new year And now, electric vehicle startup Sono Motors has announced that its solar-powered vehicle has dusted itself off before it gets a taste of the freedom of the open road.

The idea for Sono Motors’ solar-powered car could date back to 2016, but it is It wasn’t until 2019 that these EV prototypes came to fruition hitting the streets for the first time. The signs were promising for a rollout through 2022 as well, which saw the startup ship take one of its Scion passenger cars out to New York where Jalopnik was able to ride.

At the time, things were looking good, and our own Even Eric Schilling called the electric car “almost perfect.”

But the company has been struggling for funds in recent months. Reuters reports Last year, the startup launched a campaign to raise 100 million euros ($105.76 million) by offering discounts on pre-orders of the car. The company also began trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange in November in an effort to attract early-stage investors.

At the time, she warned that if her funding attempts were unsuccessful, she would shift her focus away from it Build a solar powered passenger car. Instead, it will pour all its efforts into the business of building its solar-powered accessories for commercial vehicles. Now, she’s making a move and she’s going to kill her car in Sion City.

“This hub represents an important step in the development of Sono Motors’ business,” said Lauren Hahn, Co-Founder and CEO of Sono Motors, in a statement shared with Jalopnik.

“Although we had to end our original passion project, the Sion program, shifting our focus entirely to solar energy solutions from company to company provides us with an opportunity to continue creating innovative products in the solar space. It was a difficult decision, and although there is With over 45,000 bookings and pre-orders for Sion, we’ve had to respond to the ongoing instability in the financial market and streamline our business.”

But, what are corporate solar solutions?

Well, last year Sono has launched a kit that can provide solar energy for buses and trucks. The group has added up to eight square meters of solar panels on the roofs of standard city buses or trucks. The companies said this would increase the efficiency of the commercial vehicles that are currently on the roads in towns and cities around the world.

Now, Sono Motors says it will develop a next-generation solar kit. To do this, Sono will expand its technology in preparation for a new mass-market suite of devices which it has planned for the second quarter of 2023.

As part of the restructuring, Scion Motors also confirmed that it “plans to lay off approximately 300 employees.”

While Sono Motors is undergoing all this change, the company has confirmed that it has applicable payment plan For anyone who pre-ordered one of the city cars in Sion. Early backers will receive 30 percent of their deposits by the end of May 2023, 40 percent will be returned by June 2024, and 30 percent will be returned by January 2025.