Sony is best known for making televisions, video game platforms, and cameras among many other things. But cars was never one of the electronic products that they made. Until now… sort of.
At the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Sony surprised the world with their new concept vehicles called the Vision-S. It is an all-electric sedan with 200kW motors powering both axles. It weighs in at 2,350 kg (5,180 lbs) but despite the hefty weight, 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) gets done in 4.8 seconds and it has a top speed of 240 km/h (149 mph). Sony did not say what kind of range the Vision-S has but looking at the driver display in one of the provided pictures, it can go at least 344 miles or 554 km.
But while it doesn’t really stand out as a car from other electric vehicles, it stands on its own when you look at the amount of gadgets the Sony Vision-S has. This EV is equipped with 33 different sensors and cameras to provide level 2+ autonomous driving with the ability to upgrade the software over time to Level 4 or higher autonomous driving.
In addition to the autonomous driving tech, the interior of the Vision-S is packed with entertainment features. These include a “360 Reality Audio” system with speakers mounted throughout the cabin and including in the seats for a true surround sound experience. The dashboard is not a traditional dashboard as it is a giant panoramic screen. The driver has an instrument cluster, the center portion of the screen is for media/audio/vehicle settings, and the driver’s screen is presumably for playing videos or surfing the internet as the Vision-S comes equipped with 5G capability.
Whether the Sony Vision-S will become reality or not is up in the air. Most likely this is a development platform for all of the different entertainment and autonomous driving tech that will eventually filter down to other brands.
