Back in 2020, the Japanese corporation Sony unexpectedly presented the Vision-S electric sedan concept at the CES electronics exhibition in Las Vegas, developed together with Nvidia, Continental, Bosch, ZF, Qualcomm and Magna Steyr. Then it was announced that this was only a show car to demonstrate the developments of Sony and its partners in the automotive industry and there could be no talk of any production cars. But the excuses of the company representatives sounded frankly strange against the backdrop of open testing of the Vision-S prototype on public roads. And now, at CES 2022 it is officially announced:
“To further accelerate and introduce new offerings to further develop mobility, Sony will establish a management company, Sony Mobility Inc., in spring 2022, through which the company intends to explore entry into the electric vehicle market.”
The press release also noted that the new company will strive to make best use of artificial intelligence and robotics technologies. And one of the key goals of the enterprise is “to help realize a world in which everyone can live in harmony with robots, fill people’s lives with emotion and contribute to society.”
Length x width x height Sony Vision S 02 SUV: 4.9 m x 1.93 m x 1.65 m. Wheelbase – 3.03 m. Curb weight – 2.48 tons. The crossover received air suspension, while the ground clearance in the standard position is 15.7 cm.
To confirm the seriousness of its intentions, Sony brought its second electric car concept to Las Vegas, this time a crossover. Sony Vision-S 02 SUV is built on the same platform as the Vision-S sedan, but has a more practical seven-seater interior. The car is all-wheel drive, with two electric motors (one each for the front and rear axle). The power of each motor is 200 kW (268 hp). Dynamic characteristics have not yet been revealed, however, acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h for the crossover probably lasts a little more than 4.8 seconds for the sedan. As is the top speed, which is limited to 180 km/h, which is 60 km/h below the limiter of the four-door prototype.
The new concept received a set of security systems based on a variety of high-resolution sensors and optical rangefinders. The cabin is also equipped with cameras that recognize the driver and passengers by their faces. On-board electronics understand voice commands and gestures, and user settings can be synchronized by connecting the car to the cloud via 5G communications. As with other modern electric vehicles, software updates can be installed automatically and over the air.
Source: Sony