Sono Motors' flagship Sion van uses solar power to self-charge.
Courtesy Sono MotorsA company developing an electric vehicle that can charge itself using solar power has filed to go public in the U.S.
Sono Motors plans to bring cutting-edge technology likely to attract attention from other automobile makers to public markets.
The Munich, Germany-based company filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) late Friday for an initial public offering on the Nasdaq, where it intends to trade under the ticker SEV.
Founded in 2016, the group’s flagship Sion vehicle is encased with solar cells that allow it to self-charge and add around 245 kilometers of additional driving range a week. The company intends to make money both through sales of the Sion and by licensing its proprietary solar technology for use in buses, trucks, camper vans, trains, and even boats, according to the SEC filing.
Still in the prototype stage, the Sion is expected to begin production for European markets in the first half of 2023, and had more than 14,000 preorders representing some €300 million ($348 million) in sales on the books as of the end of August. The Sion is a five-seater van powered by a 54kWh battery, giving the vehicle an expected range of 305 km on a single charge from the power grid.
Sono marked a loss of €25.7 million in the first half of 2021 and has an accumulated net deficit of €108.8 million. The company expects that it will continue to depend on external financing until deliveries of the Sion begin and it significantly scales up operations, including monetizing its solar technology.
Investment bank Berenberg will act as the bookmaker for the planned IPO.
Some auto makers have begun exploring solar panels to increase the range of electric vehicles. Hyundai’ s (ticker: HYMLF) Ioniq 5 comes with an optional solar roof that the company claims can add 2,000 km of range a year. But Sono’s offering tops what is otherwise available—the Sion’s solar panels should add almost 13,000 km of range a year.
In June, European electric-vehicle analyst Matthias Schmidt told Barron’s that Sono likely faces threats from the “predatory” nature of Europe’s largest auto makers, such as Volkswagen (VLKAF), Daimler (DMLRY), and Renault (RNO.France).
“They will likely be monitoring Sono’s market performance, and, if it is a relative success, they are likely to be barged out of the market by competitors waiting to pounce,” Schmidt said. “Other [auto makers] will only let them fly so high before swiping them out of the sky, which they failed to do with Tesla.”
But Schmidt noted at the time that a possible avenue for Sono could be licensing its solar expertise to competitors. That could kill its car business, but make it a profitable supplier to the industry.
Write to Jack Denton at jack.denton@dowjones.com
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