It’s been two years since Sony first teased its own electric vehicle, the Sony Vision-S 01, and the company has recently shared an update on the project. Aside from the testing of the S-01, Sony now also has an electric SUV in the works, the Sony Vision-S 02. Both the cars ended up on TikTok. Unsurprisingly, most of the comments on the video talk about how closely Sony’s new creations resemble already existing Teslas.
It’s hard to deny that there are similarities. Sony’s new EVs look like several Tesla models blended into one, but the Tesla Model 3 and Model X are both the closest in terms of style. Another commenter on dapoets video on TikTok pointed out that a lot of cars have a similar look to them, and that this applies to all manufacturers, not just Tesla and Sony. Aerodynamics undoubtedly play a part in the sleek design of these vehicles, but it’s possible that Sony is simply following the current trends—in this case, trends set by Tesla.
Sony is definitely branching out into unknown territories, considering that the famous consumer electronics brand built its name on – among other things – television screens and PlayStation consoles. However, it seems that since the initial announcement of the Sony Vision-S 01 back in 2020, the company has made a lot of progress.
The prototype vehicle has already undergone public road testing, starting in December 2020. It has also progressed to 5G driving tests in April 2021. While the Sony Vision-S 01 is not yet ready to be released to a wider market, Sony has already started working on various improvements for the SUV-like S-02.
The new car operates on the same EV/cloud system as the prototype version, but this one is a 7-seater, made to accommodate larger groups of people while emphasizing comfort and modern technologies. Sony teases that the car will offer safe driving thanks to the sensors installed in a 360-degree radius all around the vehicle. The new Vision EV is also equipped with Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensors that allow it to provide monitoring for driver authentication.
In addition, the SUV-type vehicle is said to feature both gesture and voice commands and a whole entertainment system dubbed “BRAVIA CORE for VISION-S”, including gaming capabilities and streaming services. The car is also supposed to provide a lot of connectivity, including 5G, to utilize the fact that all vehicle settings can be synchronized to the cloud.
Sony is yet to share a potential release date for either of these vehicles, but it has disclosed that it plans to make a new company called Sony Mobility Inc. in the spring of 2022, solely focused on the EV market. If the comments on the TikTok video are anything to go by, most of Sony’s customers are still trying to get a PS5 and have little interest in electric vehicles. However, more competition on the EV market is never a bad idea, and that is exactly what Sony is looking to provide.
