structure was strong enough to survive a lifetime of abuse. In addition, Sono gathered information about handling, comfort, suspension tuning, and road load that it will apply to the production version of the car.test to see how many extra miles of range customers can expect in a worst-case scenario. Despite the low winter sun, the car was able to gather about 28 km of range per week, thanks in no small part to the solar panels on the side of the vehicle.
Finally, Sono noted that it is completing work on its production tools and plans to run initial production trials soon. That, despite the company pleading with investors and interested customers to send it a financial lifeline in December. The company boldly admitted that it had “failed” in its mission to bring a vehicle with solar panels to the road, claiming that it would have to shut down its vehicle production department unless it could find 3,500 more reservations for the Sion.
Later that month, it said that it had received 1,000 of the 3,500 fully paid reservations it needed to save the Sion. The company gave itself until the end of February to raise all of the money it needs to start pre-series production in the summer. While it waits, Sono appears to be trying to convince the industry that it hasn’t given up on the project while it waits to see if it will, indeed, be able to finish it.