Sono unveils interior of its solar-powered electric car: Yes, that’s moss

Sono Motors, a German startup developing a relatively cheap solar-powered electric car, has unveiled the interior of the production version.

In March, the company unveiled the production version of the Sion, which is equipped with both a 35 kWh battery pack and an array of solar cells, but they only showed the exterior of the vehicle.

Now they are unveiling the interior of the Sion.

The first thing you will notice about the car’s interior is obviously the moss integrated into the dashboard.

Sono calls it “breSono” and claims that it complements the vehicle’s air filtering system.

The company says that the moss is no longer alive, but it still has air filtering features:

The moss has been specially treated so that it’s no longer a living thing. Despite this, it still maintains its positive features for filtering out particulate matter and regulating humidity.

They believe it can last a few years inside the vehicle, and it can be changed easily along with the more traditional air filter.

As for the rest of the interior, Sono kept it simple. The driver accesses most of the controls through a 10-inch center display.

They claim that despite the relatively small footprint of the car, it is conformable for five people.

Sono lists some features:

Here are a few more pictures released by the startup today:

Sono previously said that the Sion would start at €16,000 (~$18,000), but buyers would have to pay an additional fee to acquire the battery pack or pay a monthly fee, similar to the scheme used by Renault with the Zoe in France.

At first, the company said that the battery pack would be around “around €4,000,” but it now expects the price of the battery pack to be €9,500, bringing the price of the full vehicle to €25,500 (~$29,000).

The company said it was aiming for a range of ~155 miles (250 km) on a single charge and claims that the solar cells on the vehicle can add up to 30 km of range per day.

Originally, Sono was talking about starting production in 2019, but they have now pushed the target to the second half of 2020.