MUNICH, July 26 — The Sion, a five-person family car covered completely in solar panels, should enter into serial production in the second half of 2023, the German start-up developing the vehicle said yesterday.

Following years of development, Sono Motors is now building a fleet of test vehicles before confiding mass production to Valmet Automotive, a Finnish company which produces vehicles under contract.

The large black Sion hatchbacks are covered with 456 solar cells which allow it to generate on average enough electricity over a week to power the car 112 kilometres (70 miles).

The car, which boasts a battery range of 305 kilometres, is aimed at families as well as car sharing services.

Sono Motors already has 19,000 reservations for the Sion, with the average advance of €2,225 (RM10,141.15) helping finance development.

The company plans to produce more than 250,000 of the vehicles over the next seven years at a price of just over €25,000.

Both startups and established carmakers have begun to integrate solar panels on electric vehicles to extend the range.

The Lightyear 0 is supposed to begin shipping to clients later this year, but only a thousand or so are to be produced at a price tag of €250,000.

The Spain-based firm plans to roll out a mass market vehicle in 2024-2025.

The California start-up Aptera hopes to deliver a two-seat three-wheel vehicle next year and has 25,000 orders.

One version of the vehicle with a range of 400 kilometres costs US$26,000 (RM115,856), while another with 1,600 kilometres in range costs US$46,000. — AFP