Sony isn’t giving up on its plans to tackle the new car market just yet.
As recently as three months ago the electronics giant said it had no concrete plans to take on Tesla, Lucid, and even Foxconn with an electric car.
The Vision-S 02 SUV concept today revealed at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) says otherwise, as does the Sony Mobility holding company it’s established to explore electric car production.
“In order to further accelerate and make new proposals that further evolve the mobility experience, Sony will establish an operating company ‘Sony Mobility Inc.’ in the spring of 2022, through which the company intends to explore entry into the EV market,” the brand said in a statement.
The Vision-S 02 follows closely in the footsteps of the Vision-S sedan, with a futuristic design and a specification sheet that wouldn’t look out of place in showrooms right now.
The SUV measures up at 4895mm long, 1930mm wide and 1651mm tall, with a 3030mm wheelbase – within touching distance of the BMW iX in essentially every direction. It has two 200kW electric motors for all-wheel drive, and space for seven inside.
Like the Vision-S sedan that preceded it, the 02 is loaded with screens inside. Sony hasn’t gone into much detail, but it says the SUV is built on the same architecture as the sedan.
That means it features a huge technology suite to support Level 2 autonomous driving, including a combined 40 LiDar, radar, camera, and ultrasonic sensors.
When it was revealed, Sony boasted the Vision-S can park itself, has adaptive cruise control, self-parking, and auto lane-changing. It also says the vehicle is capable of Level 4 autonomy with software updates.
If it were to put the Vision-S twins into production, Sony would be taking on a growing pool of technology brands and startups making a move into the automotive world.
Tesla is the big name, but everyone from Lucid to iPhone manufacturer Foxconn are now building electric cars.
