The United States and China may be at the forefront of electric vehicle startups, but that doesn’t mean other countries are standing still.
Take Germany, for example. A few months ago we’ve learned of an EV startup called e.Go that aims to bring an electric city car to market for as little as €15,900 (about $18,000). But did you know there is another German-based startup called Sono Motors that builds an electric vehicle that charges its battery using solar power?
It’s called the Sion and it comes in at a similar starting price to the e.Go Life — €16,000 (approximately $18,100), excluding the battery pack (which the customer could rent/lease or buy it outright).
The latest episode of Fully Charged takes a close look at the Sion, an awkward-looking vehicle that is pretty clever though. It integrates solar cells no only into the roof but also on every reasonably flat surface of the car: the bonnet, the doors, the rear fenders, and the tailgate.