Sony shows Vision S electric car prototype

Sony has devised a prototype of an electric car to publicize its techniques for the automotive market. There is no indication that Sony actually wants to release an electric car.

Sony says it designed the Vision S to “understand the mechanics of cars.” The company has collaborated on the project with Bosch, Nvidia, Continental, Qualcomm, Blackberry, Gentex and HERE, among others. The result is a vehicle with technologies that are actually available, as opposed to futuristic concept cars that companies often come up with.

The Japanese company focuses on security, entertainment and adaptability in the presentation. As far as safety is concerned, Sony imagines that, for example, 33 sensors are present on and around the car to monitor the environment. The dashboard can consist of a large panoramic touch-sensitive screen, made up of multiple displays, for information and video. Furthermore, the Vision S must have a large number of speakers for spatial sound.

Software and the combination with a smartphone must play a major role, as must the ability to update the software over-the-air. According to the designer, the Vision S has two electric motors with 400 kW of power to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.8 seconds. The maximum speed would be 240 km/h. From the wording of the presentation, it does not appear that the Vision S is actually being produced.