L7 Drive to develop and supply Vehicle Connectivity Module hardware for Sono Motors’ solar electric vehicle Sion
L7 Drive, a Finnish company that develops sustainable connectivity hardware for moving vehicles and various li-ion battery solutions, announced its collaboration with solar electric vehicle company Sono Motors. L7 Drive will develop and supply a Vehicle Connectivity Module for Sono Motors’ solar electric vehicle, the Sion.
The Sion is Sono Motors’ unique, affordable vehicle that can charge its battery using solar cells that are integrated into the car’s outer polymer skin. Empowered by a strong community, Sono Motors has amassed more than 16,000 reservations with advance payments for the Sion.
The company needed a reliable, responsive, and affordable connectivity solution that can respond instantaneously to users’ commands to remotely control pre-air conditioning, check the battery status, and unlock the car by smartphone.
“We are proud to be chosen as a hardware partner for Sono Motors and be a part of the world’s first affordable solar electric vehicle, the Sion. This is a good recognition of our strong and determined product development work,” says Pentti Bruun, CEO, Chairman of The Board, and Founding Partner at L7 Drive.
“Working with Sono Motors’ team has been very fruitful, leading to several customer-oriented iteration rounds to develop the perfect solution that integrates with their Solar Electric Vehicle,” says Pasi Haikola, COO and Founding Partner at L7 Drive.
L7 Drive has developed a low cost, low latency, and low power consuming hardware device that responds instantly whether it is user command or cloud connectivity. The device, powered by Sibros’ software, enables users to conveniently find and unlock their car instantly, even after weeks of sitting dormant. This also allows Sono Motors to explore and expand into new business opportunities, such as car sharing.
L7 Drive is a sustainable battery management solution that optimizes lithium battery operation throughout their entire lifetime. Development work for the Vehicle Connectivity Module has been ongoing since the project award with Sono Motors and its software partner, with the first devices to be delivered by November 2021. The car is due to be launched in the first half of 2023.
“L7 Drive has demonstrated their ability to approach the challenge of implementing a piece of hardware that is not only high performance but also low power-consuming with an open mind and a deep understanding of how to create scalable solutions that create large-scale savings and synergies,” says Yeu Kwak, Lead Engineer for Telematics at Sono Motors. “L7 Drive were able to meet our desired use case with the device, and we’re excited to get the devices into production,” he continues.
