Sono Motors’ Sion prototypes go under the hammer

Munich-based solar car startup Sono Motors recently relaunched as SonoSolar after insolvency and aims to continue developing solar technology for emobility. Now, the company’s past is up for auction. The insolvency administrator of the former Sion programme is calling for bids on the remaining assets.

“While this marks a fresh chapter for us, another part of our story is coming to a close,” SonoSolar writes. “The trustee responsible for the former Sion vehicle program has launched an auction for remaining assets, components, tools and prototypes of a pioneering solar EV project. These assets are no longer part of our operational scope, but we recognize the technical value and emotional resonance they hold for many in the community.”

While these assets are no longer part of the company’s current operational focus, SonoSolar wants to support the auction’s visibility: “We’d like to support the trustee’s efforts to find new homes for these pieces of innovation, whether by researchers, tinkerers, collectors, educators, or those continuing to work at the edge of sustainable mobility.”

The online auction runs until 9 September at 10 a.m. It lists 267 items from Sono Motors, all to be sold to the highest bidder. These include small parts such as door side panels (starting bid €10 for the contents of a whole grid box), a crate of wishbone suspensions with a starting bid of €12, or various Sion electric motors at €50 each – again, these are just the starting bids.

The auction’s highlight is certainly the various prototypes, listed with a starting bid of €600. Ten of these prototypes will be sold through the auction. Their condition varies greatly – ranging from design stages close to the planned production model, to prototypes covered in camouflage foil, to vehicles apparently assembled only for component testing.

And if the Sion prototype you win is missing a bumper – like the vehicle with lot number 25 – that’s no big deal: bumpers are also going under the hammer, with a starting bid of €12 for three rear bumpers, for example.

“This compact electric car features solar cells integrated into the bodywork. Thanks to self-developed, patented methods and technologies, Sono Motors GmbH succeeded in seamlessly embedding the solar cells into the vehicle body,” the vehicle listings state.

The big caveat: The prototypes will likely only appeal to collectors, exhibitions and technology museums. You cannot, and must not, drive the auctioned-off Sions: “Prototype, no road approval, no documents,” the listing warns.

Source: Information via email, aurena.at (auction; in German)