First Annual General Meeting Held in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Substantial Increase in Solar Business; 23 International Partners in Total
More Than 42,500 Sion Reservations and Pre-Orders
240% Growth in Patents, 34 Granted or Filed in Total
Significant Growth Reflected in Financial Results
Appointment of Arnd Schwierholz As Member of the Supervisory Board of the Company
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, 21 December 2022 – The solar-mobility OEM Sono Group N.V. (NASDAQ: SEV) (hereafter referred to as “Sono Motors” or the “Company”) today held its first annual general meeting (“AGM”) in Amsterdam, giving a brief overview of the business year 2022 and announcing the appointment of a Member to the Supervisory Board.
A Decisive Year for the Company
“2022 has been a decisive year for Sono Motors. Despite the economic and geopolitical challenges, we have grown tremendously in all business areas. We have made significant progress as a company, as a technology provider paving the way for solar on every vehicle. Strong growth - but also growth, which was driven and made possible only by our dedicated Community and their commitment to actually bringing the Sion onto the street,” states Laurin Hahn, CEO and co-founder of Sono Motors.
Important Progress in All Key Areas
Starting with ten B2B Solar partners in November 2021, Sono Motors was able to sign an additional 13 international partners during the past twelve months, thereby creating a robust and wide-spread network of 23 well-renowned companies, such as Rhenus, Chereau, Scania, a subsidiary of Volkswagen, and Mitsubishi Europe. This network of international partners is an important milestone in diversifying Sono Motors’ various business pillars and thus securing a more financially resilient standing for the entire Company.
One year has passed since the IPO in November 2021 and the Company now has achieved over 21,000 Sion B2C reservations and 22,000 B2B pre-orders. These numbers show an increase of 30% in the B2C segment and 40% in the B2B pre-order business.
The Company’s in-depth technology knowledge was proven by an additional 24 patents being filed or granted up to date (34 in total), ensuring Sono Motors’ position as a leader in the field of solar technology innovation. These patents partly relate to the same invention being filed in different jurisdictions.
Sono Motors as a company itself grew by 82% to a total number of 418 employees as of November 30, 2022, of which more than 70% are engineers. Diversity is one of the Company’s strengths. The 418 experts come from more than 45 countries, bringing in their valuable knowledge and different backgrounds.
Major Milestones Accomplished in 2022
At the beginning of the year, Sono Motors announced the signing of a binding term sheet with Valmet Automotive, regarding the collaboration and the production of the Sion. Valmet Automotive will provide the capacity to produce up to 257,000 vehicles over a seven-year period.
In July 2022 Sono Motors revealed the world’s first affordable solar electric vehicle (SEV), the Sion, in its production design, alongside its second stand-alone product, the ‘Solar Bus Kit’. This kit is a B2B retrofit solution that reduces fuel consumption and inner-city greenhouse gas emissions, thereby contributing to climate protection. The Company started intensive testing and validation of the Sion series-validation vehicles shortly after its presentation, including vehicle dynamics testing, advanced electric testing, crash testing, as well as driving on the German Autobahn and long endurance and solar testing in Spain.
Sono Motors was also able to further establish its position as a pioneering solar mobility provider when the Company was certified as an OEM by the Federal Motor Transport Authority (“KBA”) in July 2022 and achieved official incomplete type approval for the Sion (certified by KBA in July 2022). This partial type approval of the Sion was a major step in preparing the SEV for homologation and high volume production
Furthermore, the Company successfully expanded important partnerships with well-established companies such as Continental and Bosch, securing highest quality in product as well as after sales service to the customer.
Sion embarked on a tour of the U.S. in October, which was designed to demonstrate solar electric mobility and gauge interest for the Company’s potential future expansion into the U.S. market.
Significant Growth Reflected In Financial Results
Sono Motor’s revenue was six times higher in Q3 2022 than in Q2 2022, resulting in revenue of €138,000 in Q3 2022, generated by the two business pillars Sono Solar and Sono Digital. Sono Motors has raised over €330m capital since 2016 including paid reservations of ~€44m as of November 30, 2022. Current liquidity equals €55m as of November 20, 2022.
As part of its multistep funding strategy, Sono Motors launched a down-payment campaign for 3,500 Sion, called #saveSion in December 2022. The thereby gained funds will be invested in taking the Sion closer to pre-series. The campaign is currently expected to run for 50 days and is Sono Motors’ attempt to raise non-dilutive funding for the majority of the Sion capex program. “The community’s support enabled us to push the Sion program this far–too far to be shut down. We believe that even a small group of people with a joint idea can change the status quo and that ideas and innovations such as the Sion are needed in times like these,” Laurin Hahn explains. If the down-payment campaign does not go as expected, Sono Motors will focus on its proprietary and significantly less capital intensive Solar Technology business.
Appointment of Arnd Schwierholz As Member of the Supervisory Board of The Company
The Supervisory Board has made a binding nomination to appoint Arnd Schwierholz as
Member of the Supervisory Board of the Company from the date of the AGM for a period closing at the end of the Company shareholders’ annual general meeting to be held in 2026.
“In Arnd, we have found a proven and well-experienced expert to our Supervisory Board with strong expertise in the areas of mobility and finance. We are very pleased to have him on board as we further position Sono Motors as a pioneering leader in the field of solar mobility,” says Jona Christians, CEO and co-founder of Sono Motors.
Outlook 2024
“92% of our suppliers are nominated, 39 % of the machines for series production have been ordered. We are planning to set up pre-series shortly and prepare for series production in Finland, testing continues and the homologation is expected to take place; so the Sion is well on its way. Minor changes to the investment plans have resulted in a planned pre-series production in 2023 and planned SOP in the first quarter 2024. As for the solar business, one of the world’s top global passenger car OEMs signed a purchase order with us. So we believe the field of technology licensing holds a very promising new market for us. As a company we want to exploit the full potential of our technologies and thus vigorously move forward on our mission of solar on every vehicle”, Christians concludes.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release includes forward-looking statements. The words "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "plan", "estimate", "aim", "forecast", "project", "target", “will” and similar expressions (or their negative) identify certain of these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are statements regarding the Company's intentions, beliefs, or current expectations. Forward-looking statements involve inherent known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and contingencies because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future and may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and assumptions include, but are not limited to (i) the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy, our industry and markets as well as our business, (ii) risks related to our limited operating history, the rollout of our business and the timing of expected business milestones including our ability to complete the engineering of our vehicles and start of production on time and budget and risks related to future results of operation, (iii) risks related to our unproven ability to develop and produce vehicles and with expected or advertised specifications including range, and risks relating to required funding, (iv) risks related to our ability to monetize our solar technology, (v) risks relating to the uncertainty of the projected financial information with respect to our business including the conversion of reservations into binding orders, (vi) effects of competition and the pace and depth of electric vehicle adoption generally and our vehicles in particular on our future business and (vii) changes in regulatory requirements, governmental incentives and fuel and energy prices. For additional information concerning some of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could affect our forward-looking statements, please refer to the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), which are accessible on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov and on our website at ir.sonomotors.com. Many of these risks and uncertainties relate to factors that are beyond the Company's ability to control or estimate precisely, such as the actions of regulators and other factors. Readers should therefore not place undue reliance on these statements, particularly not in connection with any contract or investment decision. Except as required by law, the company assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements.
DISCLAIMER
The issuance and sale, if any, of ordinary shares by the Company under the ATM Sales Agreement is subject to the effectiveness of the Company's registration statement on Form F-3 (file number 333-268709), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 7, 2022, which includes a prospectus specifically relating to the offer and sale of ordinary shares by the Company under the ATM Sales Agreement. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the securities discussed herein, nor shall there be any offer, solicitation or sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.
Sono Group N.V. (OTCQB: SEVCF) is on a pioneering mission to accelerate the revolution of mobility by making every vehicle solar. Sono Motors’ disruptive solar technology has been engineered to be seamlessly integrated into a variety of vehicle architectures — including third-party OEM cars, buses, refrigerated vehicles, and recreational vehicles — to extend range and reduce fuel costs as well as the impact of CO2 emissions, paving the way for climate-friendly mobility.