It's a Sony !

A few hours ago Sony unveiled , at CES 2020 , an electric concept car !
No mention for manufacturing yet , it seems Sony is testing waters while trying to reinvent itself and the best place to do that is CES .
Sony has a strong presence in automotive world but relied on a number of partners for that project.
Certainly a brave move from Sony , there is an established fan base for the brand but they will need more than that for this project to be successful.
I know at least one member in s2g that most likely would like to buy one if it becomes ever available.

 

But..but.. why not a new boombox??

 

Seeing that chassis picture there, I'd guess that VW may be one of their partners as that looks like the BEV VW ID3 chassis

 

I guess most of us share the same feelings !

Not sure if they presented a new boombox but even if they did probably not something to be thrilled at , on the other hand we've been carrying Sony products around for years maybe it was time for a Sony product to carry us around for a change !

At first glance they share at least 3 common partners Continental , Bosch and ZF , Sony says that Vision S is based on the "EV" platform implying that they have a lineup in mind.



Features and more for the car :

 

Some more information on the partnerships involved here

https://www.techspot.com/news/83431-vision-s-electric-sedan-drives-sony-idea-future.html

I find it rather amusing that after all the hype and then the cancelling of Dyson's car Sony pulls one out of the hat.

Of course the key thing, as Dyson realised, is production costs. I remember seeing a TV programme in which an Auto engineer claimed it was far easier to design a V12 engine for some top end exotic, than a four cylinder engine for a family car, where the entire budget for the drivetrain is £1000.

Something I only found out recently, when reading about how Rivian have bought an existing Mitsubishi car factory to make vehicles, is that Tesla cars are also built in an existing car factory which was already equipped with all the presses etc required to mass produce cars.

https://electrek.co/2018/01/19/rivian-ev-startup-mitsubishi-factory-electric-pickup-trucks-suvs/

 

Doing a bit of research, it seems Sony teamed up with a company called Magna Steyr who build EV cars for Jaguar/Land Rover, BMW and a few others. Does have a hint of Tesla about it from some angles though. The reason I said about the VW connection is that VW has said that the chassis they have developed will be available to anybody who wants to buy into it, and the image shown looks like the VW EV chassis, maybe its a development of that?

 

At this point Sony will use it as a demonstration and test platform for its sensors and other automotive related technologies , manufacturing and distribution is a totally different strategic decision and certainly it will be a huge investment if they ever go that far.

I can't wait to drive it though ! Playstation 5 will be out sometime around this year's holidays and I'm sure Sony's new birth child Vision S will be in the next Gran Turismo title.

 

I would like to know how they do the motors. Most motors in domestic appliance are only 1 or 2 horsepower, yet are quite large.
The Tesla model S claims to get 259 hp (193 kW) from each of its motors ! Of course with the standard battery pack the charge would last for less than 30 minutes so they obviously rely on the motors spending most of the time idling.

Regarding batteries it was Sony who first mass produced Lithium Ion batteries although their record isn't unblemished. About ten years ago Dell gave me a free replacement Sanyo cell Battery pack to replace the Sony one I got with a second hand, out of guarantee laptop. Interestingly Tesla use Panasonic (who took over Sanyo) cells. They are also apparently the only company to use standard laptop sized cells rather than specially designed vehicle ones.

 

So here we are a year later , a year that pandemic had an unpredictable impact on every human activity , still Sony managed to demonstrate Vision S on public roads in the context of CES 2021.

 

The second video is interesting in showing how many companies are actually involved. Doing some research on Magna Steyr who @lupogtiboy has already mentioned they already have the capacity to make 200000 cars a year. By a company you have never heard of that already makes 200000 cars a year https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magna_Steyr Almost all have other companies badges on them so why not a Sony badge? However, taking your Vision S into your local Sony Centre to get the suspension checked might be a problem.