Word is finally out. We’re going stateside! On 10 October we will begin our Celebrate the Change tour in the US, stopping in five cities to give thought leaders, fans, media, and investors up close and personal insights into the Sion and our Sono Solar solutions for the transportation sector. We wanted to give you, our Community, the information firsthand, as to why we made this decision and what it will look like.
For this we sat down with CEO Laurin and CFO Torsten to get some insights into the tour and why we decided to go across the pond.
The climate crisis and its effects have never been more apparent than they are now. Without action, we will slip deeper into it and cause even more irreversible and irreparable damage to our planet and the natural world. Burning fossil fuels is no longer an option we can continue with. We need real and attainable solutions that everyone can adopt to contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gasses and the destruction of our planet’s delicate ecosystems.
Whilst striving for our clear purpose to rid the world of fossil fuel usage and to make mobility sustainable and affordable for all we realized that our solar technology was not only beneficial for individual mobility, but also for all types of vehicles. Many people in the world do not own their own vehicles but rely on public transport infrastructure to get to where they need to go. Thus, our mission evolved and became ‘solar on every vehicle’.
This mission must be a global effort - we cannot combat climate change in Germany alone. Now that restrictions have eased, international and domestic travel is again possible, we feel that it is the perfect time to personally connect with people contributing to a global climate-friendly future around the world. That’s why we are taking ‘Celebrate the Sun’ to the US of A to ‘Celebrate the Change’. We will take this opportunity to make lasting and foundational relationships with investors, thought leaders, green projects, founders of Greentech companies, media, and interested persons, amongst others. This will enable us to take our mission to the next level, discuss sustainability on a mass scale, and showcase clean, affordable, and accessible solar transportation.
Our Team, including CEO Laurin, CFO Torsten and COO Thomas, will travel from the east to the west of the United States, beginning in New York City, where we went public last year on the NASDAQ stock exchange. From New York we will proceed to Boston, Detroit, San Francisco and Los Angeles, in which we will engage in panel discussions, one-to-one talks and much more to exchange and discuss ideas and solutions for more sustainable ways of living and display how our technology could truly make a difference.
So much for the background of this tour. We know that you have valid questions about this tour and so will let Torsten and Laurin take the reins and steer you through some of those.
So, why are we going on tour in the US in the first place?
Laurin: Before we go into the why, I want to give some background to set the scene, so to speak. Last year we realized that in order to achieve our mission of ‘solar on every vehicle’, we needed access to the capital markets. We went over a lot of different scenarios before we decided on going public on the NASDAQ stock market in New York in November 2021. Going public enabled us to access the necessary capital we needed for the 3rd generation prototype and continue to need to further our vision and mission and to truly become a pioneer and leader in sustainable mobility. During this process we promised our US investors that we would bring the Sion to the US in 2022.
We recognized that this was also the perfect opportunity to showcase further how our pioneering technology could truly make a difference, especially in a country as large and naturally diverse as the US.
But why show the series-production car in the US before Germany? We are a German company after all. Will we tour here, in Europe?
Laurin: At the end of July 2022, we showed the Sion in its series-production design to our Community and the world for the first time in Munich during the Celebrate the Sun event. We made this decision to now head to the US after much discussion. Global warming cannot be repaired in Munich or Germany alone. We need to go international.
As I said, when we went public on NASDAQ last year, we told our US investors that we would bring the Sion to them, as well as have the opportunity to connect with further potential investors to cover some of our funding needs until we get to SOP. We will of course do a European Tour, which we have planned for 2023.
What actually is this roadshow about?
Torsten: Put simply a roadshow is a ‘tour’ in which a series of meetings and events is held across a range of cities and locations in which a company’s top executives talk with current or potential investors and other interested parties. They are very common when a company is to conduct an IPO, which we have already executed but, due to COVID and the feeling we would want to make this as sustainable as possible we had to forgo this last year.
Our roadshow will be a mix of the traditional sense, for investors to meet us and get to know the company on a personal basis. But also, to use the time we are there efficiently and effectively, we will be holding sustainability talks and round table discussions to shine a light on our vision of a world without fossil fuels.
Shouldn’t we be using the costs this will incur for developing the Sion?
Torsten: Such tours are a common practice and necessary for companies to continue to develop and ensure new awareness of Sono Motors, our vision, and our mission. We therefore believe that it is well invested time and money.
Thank you, Torsten and Laurin!
We would love to take you all with us, but unfortunately that is not possible. However, it wouldn’t be a tour without our community! You’re in town and want to experience the Sion up close? No problem, we have dates available for you in every city.
Dates in New York from 10 to 12 October
Dates in Detroit 17 October
We will also share our experiences and impressions with you online. You’ll get regular updates via our newsletter and blog, and for those who want to follow us as closely as possible, there will be plenty to see on Instagram and Twitter.