First external prototypes and company growth (2021–2022)
Also in October 2021, ARI Motors presented the ARI 458, a small, light-weight utility vehicle equipped with five of Sono's solar panels providing up to 450 Watts. The solar cells are supposed to extend the range of the vehicle by up to 48 kilometers. At the beginning of 2022, the city of Munich was testing an electric bus with Sono's solar cells installed on a trailer under real-world conditions.[13] The solar cells were supposed to provide the bus motors with constant power and thus reduce the number of charge-discharge cycles of the batteries, extending their lifetime.
In April 2022, Sono Motors cancelled the agreement with NEVS, the production partner for the Sion announced in 2019, and switched production to Valmet Automotive instead. Furthermore, the company now also decided to produce its first own vehicles in Finland rather than in Sweden. The price of the vehicle had also increased from the initial €16,000 to more than €26,000 between 2019 and 2021.[14]
In May and June 2022, Sono sold an additional 10,930,000 ordinary shares, resulting in approximately $41.5 million in net proceeds, and entered into an agreement "[..] to sell and issue up to $150 million of its ordinary shares over a period of 24 months [..]" via Berenberg Bank.
In July 2022, the "production design" of the Sonos vehicle was unveiled at a large media event.
On September 8, 2022 the company published its Second Quarter 2022 report, citing strong growth, increasing Sion orders and a large number of business-to-business collaborations. There were supposedly more than 20,000 private customer reservations at a down payment of an average of €2,000, plus several larger orders by business partners, including a 12,600 car contract with Munich-based car rental company FINN. Sion was expected to sell at an "[..] expected net sales price point of just €25,126 [..]", possibly making it "[..] the world’s first solar electric vehicle (SEV) for the masses [..]".
On-street testing of the car had supposedly already begun, with mass production planned to start in the second half of 2023. Operation costs of €61.0 million in the first half of 2022 were confronted by a revenue of just €42,000 in the same half and cash and cash equivalents of €89.8 million as of 30 June 2022. Several large B2B projects (CHEREAU, Kögel, Wingliner, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Thermal Transport Europe), other solar projects and the launch of Sion were expected to generate revenue soon.
