As promised, I was going to write another post about my experience driving the Sono Sion. Here it is!
The Sono Sion is a hatchback that will have a battery that will give you 250 kilometers real world range. It has a 80 kW engine and has a lot of safety systems that, according to the team, should be able to give the car a 4 out of 5 star safety rating.
The car is mainly built up from off-the-shelf parts from different manufacturers, which makes it possible to sell it at a price of €20,000. Especially when you compare it to other cars that also take you (about) 250 km, like the Renault Zoe and Nissan Leaf that start at over €30,000, that is a bargain. You however have to accept that the interior is pretty basic, there are no options and it is only available in black.
There are some special features that not all EVs have, like:
The breSono moss filter Source
Unfortunately, the prototype I was allowed to drive was not street legal. That meant that I only could drive a small lap on a parking area of which part was covered with rubber plates. Because of that I could not drive faster than 10 km/h and couldn't really test the power, regenerative braking and handling in the corners. However, it felt like a solid ride and it was nice to experience it once in real life.
The interior felt a bit basic and was also still very prototype (i.e. some parts were even fake). I however do like that there are not too many buttons and that most information is on two small displays that are located right in your vision. The seats felt good, but a longer test drive should prove whether it is also comfortable for longer trips.
With the interesting features and the low sticker price, the Sono Sion can become a real hit when it hits the market in 2019 (or 2020). The drive feels good, but I need to do some more/longer testing to be able to really reflect on that. At the event, the team told me that they were considering to do a tour again next year when they did have some near-production prototypes that might also be allowed to hit the public road. When they visit near my place again, I'll definitively visit that tour again to be able to test it a bit further.
All in all I think it is a really interesting car that might even become the very first car that I own, but I do want to see/test a bit more before I decide to reserve one.
What do you think of the Sion? Do you like the exterior and could you imagine yourself buying one? Let me know in the comments below!
