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Comment by Tepix | Hacker News Reader

I've ordered the Sono Sion¹ electric car. It has solar cells (1200W max) that will charge the car during the day adding - on average - 10km range per day (34km max in the summer).

I only drive a few kilometers per week. If everything goes well I won't have to charge the car for months.

The Sion has a rather small battery so its range is only 250km or so. Enough for me, but that's something that a significant number of people are not yet comfortable with.

¹ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sono_Motors_Sion

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> I only drive a few kilometers per week.

Is it even worth owning a car to only drive a few kilometers per week, which seems to imply under 200 miles per year? The fixed costs would seem terribly onerous on a per-km basis.

i suppose if for some reason you can't ride a bike. Dangerous roads is a common limiter, or needing to carry heavy stuff.

Honestly, bikes are a hassle. Too easy to steal. I used to ride everywhere with my bike, but the mental drag of having to find a safe spot, chain it (and even then, many guys carry around large nut cracker) .. it killed biking except for pauseless round trips.

Comments like this make me appreciate living in Japan even more.

Luckily, i haven't had an issue with bicycle theft in over a decade. I'm using a dutch-style frame lock and a steel cable. It's a lot faster than finding a parking space for my car.

Car parking spot are hell too, but car theft is massively more dangerous for the perpetrator.. if your bike gets stolen, the chances of it being looked after and found are .. slim ?

Great for commuting though, when you can bring it inside at both ends.

That's an important question. Sometimes I need to drive more. For now the answer is "yes", but perhaps this will be the last car i ever own.

The Wikipedia article says: "By the use of older – and thus no longer legally protected – components of traditional car manufacturers this low price compared to other electric cars is possible". Can anyone shed some light on this?

Maybe they mean they are using old designs no longer protected by patents?

The linked article says: "The Sion developers have deliberately combined several older - and thus no longer patented - components of traditional automakers in the car."

The name is rather bizarrely the inverse of the excellent Japanese director Sion Sono(1), popular and world famous (or at least instantly found via an internet search) since his 2001 hit, Suicide Circle(2).

The car looks great - does anyone know anything further about the naming?

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sion_Sono 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_Club_(film))

Thank you for this comment because it puts one of the solar cars (at least the Sono Sion) in context--10 km range per day. It's a great option if that that work for you!

If few means 1-3, that means just today in under an hour I may have walked more than you drive for two weeks.

> The Sion has a rather small battery so its range is only 250km or so.

So twice that of a Nissan Leaf?

It's not much less than my terrible petrol Kia (220 miles / 350 km on a full tank).

The 2018 Leaf in my garage will do 250km. The new Leaf plus is up to 360 km.

Yes, and 2018 is the first year of the redesign with extended range. The previous generation had significantly shorter ranges.

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