According to media reports, Izumi Kawanishi, senior general manager of Sony Group, revealed that the company may add new technology partners for its electric vehicle project to transform the car from a means of transportation to an entertainment space, which it said, self-driving and 5G technology or transforming the car into a mobility platform that provides information and entertainment services, thus reshaping the entire automotive industry.
In addition, Izumi Kawanishi, senior general manager of Sony Group, which is in charge of Sony's electric vehicle project, said: "We believe that the risks posed by ignoring electric vehicles are greater than the challenges they bring", and the upcoming trend of electric vehicle transformation is somewhat similar to the process by which information technology transforms feature phones into smartphones.
Can Sony really build cars?
In 2020, Sony officially announced its first pure electric concept model ——— VISION-S, which is positioned as a four-door pure electric coupe. The car was built by several companies, including NVIDIA, Qualcomm, ZF, Bosch, BlackBerry, QNX, Mapai, Bentler, Magna and many more, and the electric vehicle platform was jointly designed by Sony and Magna.
In terms of body size, the VISION-S is positioned between the Tesla Model 3 and the Model S, but the wheelbase of the VISION-S 3000mm even surpasses the Tesla Model S. In terms of power performance, vision-S is equipped with dual motors in front and rear, and the acceleration time of 100 kilometers is 4.8 seconds.
After the release of the new car, Sony said that VISION-S is still in the research and development stage, and Sony is still exploring the company's significance and value in travel services through the VISION-S concept car. They want to "load" the main multimedia software and hardware into the car, and VISION-S is just a test platform.
This is very similar to Huawei's way, Sony is not involved in the manufacture of the whole vehicle, but they will be like Huawei, providing intelligent cockpits and so on.
For example, in VISION-S we see a 360 Reality Audio system that can create an exclusive sound field for everyone in the car, and the 5G network in the car allows users to connect to the PlayStation server, so as to sit in the car and play PS games. In addition, Sony's rich range of movies, music and gaming products will appear in the future "smart cockpit".
Following Sony Vision-S, at this year's CES show, Sony brought a new pure electric SUV - VISION-S 02 concept car.
In terms of power, the new car adopts dual motors as the power source, each motor has a maximum power of 200kW, a comprehensive power of 400kW, and adopts four-wheel drive, with a maximum speed of 180km/h and an acceleration of 4.8 seconds per 100 km/h.
In terms of chassis, the new car will use a combination of front double wishbones and rear air suspension. As for the battery life, the new car has not yet announced more information.
Intelligent performance, through the new car, Sony also demonstrated its achievements in human-computer interaction systems. Sony's human-machine interaction includes facial, speech and gesture recognition. In terms of intelligent driving, the vehicle is equipped with a total of 40 sensors, and the intelligent driving function has been realized. Sony also highlighted its security. Kenichiro Yoshida is based on safety, adaptability and entertainment.
In the interior, the new car adopts a triple screen design that runs through the entire center console, with a multi-functional steering wheel, a knob-type electronic gear shift mechanism, and a touch-type functional control area under the center console, which makes the vehicle interior have a good scientific and technological atmosphere.
At the same time as the new car was released, Kenichiro Yoshida, chairman, president and chief executive of Sony, said the company was exploring the commercial launch of Sony's electric vehicles.
In addition, Sony also announced that it will officially establish Sony Motors in the spring of 2022. At the same time, a new company, Sony Mobility, will be set up to accelerate efforts to "explore the commercial launch of Sony's electric vehicles."
This implies that in the near future, Sony cars may appear in front of the public. Sony has also changed from being a "service provider" to being a "manufacturer".
Can Sony build a car?
So far, Sony has cooperated with well-known auto parts manufacturer Magna (a supplier of BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and other well-known car manufacturers) to produce two prototype electric vehicles in the Austrian plant, while Bosch, Valeo and Hungarian self-driving car startup AImotive are also involved in Sony's electric vehicle project.
It can be seen that from the formal establishment of Sony Cars to the joint use of existing resources, Sony car manufacturing is already a nail in the coffin. But you know, Apple, which is also an electronic giant, its car-making plan is still stagnant, and sony cars can succeed?
As we all know, building a car requires huge amounts of money, but also to bear various risks. However, according to the head of Sony's car manufacturing business, the risk of missing out on electric vehicles is greater.
In this regard, we can only quietly wait for the arrival of Sony cars. As for when the new car will be mass-produced, the relevant information has not been officially announced at present.