People in Germany don't quite like talking about money as they do in the USA, for example. You either have it or you don't. In the case of “not”, alternatives are happy to help nowadays forms of financing. Or not.
Only a few weeks ago we decided against a trip to Finland because we found it rather less exciting to see how the made-to-order production for the Lightyear 0 started. We now know that it was a unique opportunity. Barely two months later, the 0 has become a zero number. Production stopped, the focus is now on the Lightyear 2 and all the necessary parts of the company have been saved from bankruptcy. It is well known that hope dies last. Maybe there will be something else.
Meanwhile, it also operates according to the same principle Sono-Motors in Munich. The solar car pioneers did not manage to find money, the hoped-for 105 million euros for the start of the Series production collect by the end of January. The deadline has now been extended to the end of February. So far, 48 million have come together, not enough to Cars to build. But a lot more than we would have expected.
We can only roughly illuminate the topic from the outside and know them Financial data of the company does not. But if you've been peddling the solar idea for years, and no established manufacturer jumps in for relatively little money and buys know-how, if not the whole company, you could start pondering. Maybe the idea of a sustainable car of this kind is not as sustainable as the inventors think. And the number of Happy fanswho blind a car pre-finance, is also rather manageable. We are so curious about what will be reported at the end of February, but suspect that there are still a few euros too much missing.
It is well known that the development and construction of small car. At least that's what we hear from everywhere in the industry and from the usual analysts. There is no more money to be made with this and if it were, the cars would be too expensive for the customers. What we haven't really heard is what people should buy instead. Only very few of them will have resorted to a small car so far because the category is so great, but rather because it is for their own purse and the life situation most likely fit. If you venture a look beyond the German borders to other European markets, you can see that small cars are usually the big deal there. Maybe it would be an idea to reconsider the definition of "not making money". After all, not everyone has to SUV want to drive and be able to pay.
Meanwhile, an idea came from Renault. If a modern e-car is too expensive for you, you can also have an old R4, R5 or Twingo converted into an e-car for what used to be the equivalent of a small car. The safety level should correspond to "market standards" and the 80 km range is definitely sufficient. Say those who get money for the conversion. When in doubt, the cuteness factor of the oldies makes up for a few shortcomings.
The good thing about the retrofit idea is that it chip shortage industry will remain largely unaffected. The thing with the lack of chips is also becoming more and more confusing. The more experts you ask, the more perspectives you get. While the usual naysayers are now becoming rosy when it comes to supply bottlenecks, the VDA in its own investigation just found that the shortage will continue for a long time.
So far we have refrained from setting up our own research center. For economic reasons alone. Why spend money to guess what other people are only guessing. However, we spontaneously came up with the idea of one crowdfunding. Roughly estimated, we need around 60 million euros by the end of February (account details will follow) so that we can consolidate our changing belief in the news of the industry through our own research. Only as start-up financing, of course. And we certainly don't build any of them solar cars. Promised. Is there anything else? Next week again.
