The Sono Sion EV solar electric vehicle successfully performed its first complete vehicle crash test. The result of the 50 km/h frontal crash test met the Company’s expectations regarding the Sion’s crash safety and the robustness of Sono Motors’ proprietary polymer-based vehicle-integrated solar technology, which covers the vehicle’s entire body.
The test was rolled out at its partner facility at CSI in Italy, a certified testing institution, with a Sion that was, including solar panels, painted green to ensure the vehicle is high contrast and therefore can enable more accurate evaluation.
In the initial, physical complete vehicle test simulating a heavy frontal crash, the integrated Sono Solar Technology did not splinter and thus did not cause danger to passengers and other road users. Until homologation, Sono Motors will conduct around 300 physical component, sled and complete vehicle tests in total to confirm the results of years of crash simulations. Based on the physical and simulated tests carried out to date, the Company expects the Sion to comply with all legal requirements for pedestrian and passenger safety. In addition to the legally required test program, the Company is undertaking additional EURO NCAP (European New Car Assessment Programme) crash tests, e.g. to increase the Sion’s crash safety for women and children.
Markus Volmer, CTO of Sono Motors, says: “after years of running successful crash simulations, we are very proud to see our solar technology delivering the same satisfying and high quality results in real life. We want our customers to be able to drive with the comfort of knowing that the solar technology in their Sion is not only charging the battery for free but also adheres to the highest safety standards”.
The Sion is a highly practical and family-friendly SEVe, which will fulfill high safety standards in other areas as well. The Company will equip every Sion with future-proof ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems) technologies at no additional cost. The ADAS features are proven solutions from technology company Continental and will be included as a standard in the Sion’s expected sales price of approximately €25,000 net. The functionalities include:
– Forward collision warning
– Automatic emergency braking
– Lane departure warning
– Lane keep assist
– Attention assist
– Traffic sign assist
– Rear parking assist
– Rear view camera
Sono Motors plans to add adaptive cruise control via an over-the-air update after the start of production. “We want to ensure maximum safety, comfort and efficiency for Sion customers. Thus, we have integrated some of the best ADAS technologies on the market and we retain the possibility of unlocking new software features over the air. By integrating state of the art technology, we plan to make the Sion competitive for its start of production and ready for the future”, says Markus Volmer, CTO of Sono Motors.
Durability tests, crash tests and solar tests have already started on 18 complete vehicles and further tests, such as winter tests in Sweden and ADAS validation, are planned within the first quarter of 2023.
