We are about to drop off the original 5p Go rate, I am not sure that solar, battery and two lots of diverters for car/hot water will play together nicely in Intelligent Octopus unless the app comes with a free implementation of Kofi Annan.
Itâs not very Powerwall friendly, thatâs the issue. I you have a battery that you can control with the API then it works well.
Hopefully they rethink their interiors
Received this from Sono (tldr man need not commentđ)
WE FAILED
to raise enough money. We failed to explain to investors why the Sion is truly needed and that there is a huge demand for it. As a young company we didnât do everything right. We underestimated costs, timelines and the complexity in certain details. As most of you experienced painfully, we had to make the tough decision to delay our start of production more than once. But what hurts us most, is something that is of utmost importance to us - we havenât saved any relevant amount of CO2 yet.
To make matters worse, we are living through multiple global crises. The COVID-19 pandemic, the global energy crisis, the war against Ukraine, inflation and interest rate increases, and based on all of that a totally challenging capital market environment.
These combined equate to a perfect storm and we are right in the center of it. The fear of a recession is causing most investors to avoid taking risks and look toward more mature companies. All of the above has meant that we have not been able to raise enough money to continue building the Sion.
THE CONSEQUENCES.
The logical consequence would now be to halt the Sion project and focus purely on our solar business. This is also exactly what our advisors are telling us to do. Do what they call a âclassic pivotâ and focus on our patented solar technology. It is less risky, less capital intensive, overall less expensive and an easier move. The total addressable market is huge, and the potential profits are very attractive. They are telling us to not build the car, to restructure the company, and to lay off 70% of our people. To refund our reservation holders and to disregard the Sion and our Community.
AGAINST ALL ODDS.
But this canât be our way. We absolutely still believe in the Sion. We believe it is the right solution for so many problems in this world. Not only in regard to making individual climate-friendly mobility accessible to the masses but also as a solution towards ever-rising energy costs and ultimately to achieve our vision of a world without the need to burn fossil fuels. We have come so far together. Just look at what we already achieved together.
After humble beginnings in a small garage, we raised âŹ800k in our very first crowdfunding campaign and thereby planted the seed for our outstanding Community. Moving forward a few years to late 2019, our dedicated Community helped us to raise a mind-boggling and previously unheard of sum of more than âŹ50m of payment commitments in a crowdfunding campaign. At that time, it was the largest of its kind (for a hardware product) in Europe.
WHAT WE ACHIEVED TOGETHER.
The money you entrusted us with enabled us to achieve so much. Amongst other things: We released the SVC2, our second generation prototypes, and are well underway with our fleet of its successor, generation 3 or series-validation vehicles. We went public in the US on Nasdaq - one of the most regulated markets in the world and have since raised more than âŹ264m. We built an incredible team of 418 industry experts and became an officially certified automotive company, a so-called OEM, certified by the German authorities. No one would have believed that this was possible. But it was, because we did it together. We promised you to bring the Sion on the streets, and you put your trust in us.
WE CANâT STOP NOW.
So, letâs show the nay-sayers that they are wrong. Letâs prove that this world is not only ruled by calculators and profits. Instead of building more and more solutions for the 1%, letâs prove that the demand for an affordable SEV, rather than luxury SUVs, is very much wanted and called-for by the everyday person. Call us crazy, but we still believe we can make it. Weâve gained invaluable amounts of experience, hired a multitude of experts from their respective fields and grew into a legitimate organization. We canât stop now. We are ready and eager to build the Sion. Letâs get there together!
All we need is your commitment and, yes, a lot of money! The good news here is that we aim high, but it is a realistic goal. If only 3,500 reservation holders out of the over 21,000 existing reservations make a full down payment, we then can raise enough money to trigger a positive domino effect. Even if you only increase your down payment by a 100 Euro â every euro counts. Your down-payment, which represents both your money and your trust in us, we believe this will enable us to continue to find new investors and to continue to pay the remaining machinery, tooling and production set-up to achieve the planned pre-series production in 2023 and make it to a high volume SOP in 2024.
YOUR BENEFITS.
All campaign supporters will get an exclusive discount of up to âŹ3,000. You will only have to pay if the campaign is successful. Additionally, we will also give you a vehicle waiting list number.
Now, itâs time for you to decide. Itâs a simple vote. In deciding whether to make or increase a down-payment, you can vote for the Sion. We are not just saying weâre the worldâs first truly community-driven automotive company. We exemplify it. Itâs not about our dream. Itâs not about Sono Motors. Itâs not about an electric car. Itâs about proving to the world that change is both needed and wanted. That we canât continue like this. That the everyday person has taken matters into their own hands and shown politicians, investors, policymakers and corporations what true action looks like.
Itâs about a movement. A Community that has one belief. A belief that even a small group of people can change the status quo. So letâs do it. Letâs continue to build the Sion. Letâs take matters into our own hands. For a world without burning fossil fuels.
Laurin & Jona
Save the Sion â To the campaign
3 Likes
The milk float version of âBuy the dipâ.
Finally ordered Q8 55 etron last night
The configurator is a little too clever at re-calculating the range based upon the options one chucks at it.
More options, more weight. More weight, less range.
Yardie tyres? Bye bye WLTP
Luckily Audi doesnât have many options to choose from, so this was an entirely intuitive process and an excellent way to spend the evening 
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Porn, that
Nice.
I must say, the MG system, like the Hyundai system, is nice. âWhat trim level? What colour?â Sorted
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Weâd have much preferred the EX90, which - like Polestar , Tesla, MG - asks you for what colour youâd like and then leaves you the fuck alone.
However delivery is from August 2024, and Iâd much prefer Frank to keep his record -Abattoir-delivery-time award
(That and it was a fair old chunk of change more expensive.)
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Did you go for the climate pre-conditioning?
Yup.
Trim / option packs are a little differently packaged over here than in the UK, so that was a tick in the box, of which there were a fair few
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LOL, why is that not standard?
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Yes, given that it is on the Passat wannabe. Or it would be if the app ever worked.
Cos Audi
Is that the same size as the petrol Q8, had one as a hire car a few years ago and it was absolutely gargantuan.
Itâs a wee bit bigger than the Q8, and save for the upgraded battery it is to all intents and purposes the same car as the original Audi E-tron SUV
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