Sono Motors: “Community funding” may have been illegal

Barely two months after abandoning its solar car project, Sono Motors may be facing more trouble over the project’s financing. Capital magazine questions the “community funding” approach the German startup had resorted to and says reimbursements remain outstanding in some cases.

Said “community fundings” had seen around 21,000 private individuals advancing almost 44 million euros to Sono Motors. Capital reports it is aware of several cases in which payers are still waiting for reimbursement.

The bigger question is whether the “community funding” was legal at all. “I wouldn’t be surprised if criminal courts are still dealing with the case from various points of view,” Capital quotes the lawyer Andreas Walter from the Frankfurt law firm Schalast.

According to Capital, other lawyers see a conflict with the German Banking Act in the case of “community funding” because Sono Motors failed to inform investors about risks and did not describe any real consideration in its general terms and conditions.

However, it remains unclear whether Sono Motors will actually have to answer the courts because of the type of financing. The German financial supervisory authority Bafin does not consider itself responsible for Sono Motors, and the company also believes it is in the right. “We have always been about bringing affordable solar electric mobility to the streets together with the community, and thus we did not want to offer an investment option or a return-of-investment project with Sion reservations,” the company told Capital. It still plans to refund all deposits.

Sono Motors had to face insolvency in March 2023.

capital.de (in German)