Sony Unveils the Vision S Electric Vehicle At CES 2020

Sony, this week, surprised visitors at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas by unveiling a concept electric car, which was called Vision S and built-in collaboration with Magna Steyr, Nvidia, Continental, Bosch, Qualcomm and ZF.

The company does not have plans at the moment to mass-produce the Vision S, just yet, though. It is currently in a space between concept and a prototype vehicle.

Like a concept car, it is meant to illustrate the ideas that Sony has for the automotive industry. However, like a prototype, the Vision S is operational.

The Vision S is wholly electrical, and it has a top speed of 240 kph. The acceleration is also quite brisk, with 4.8 seconds from 0 to 100kph.

The Vision S comes available with a steering wheel, switchgear and power specs. Dual electric motors churning out 268 horsepower are set on each axle. These account for acceleration and power.

The Vision S weighs more than 5,100 pounds and 21-inch wheels with staggered width tires for the front and rear.

That could be similar to the Porsche Taycan though the latter’s wheelbase is shorter while the performance figures are much more impressive.

The concept also incorporates the image and sensing technologies, not to mention onboard software regulated with the use of the AI telecommunication and cloud technology for the update and evolution of the features.

There are a total of 33 sensors, including ToF and CMOS image sensors embedded in the Vision S, that are there to detect and recognize individuals and objects within and without the vehicle to give advanced driving support.

In the spirit of semi-autonomous vehicle development, the Vision S contributes to self-driving technological advancements.

The vision S is not a self-driving car, though, and instead reaches Level 2 plus driver assistance. That means it features advanced cruise control and can change lanes automatically as well as park itself.

Sony stated that with the software updates, the vehicle could even reach level 4 driver assistance.

The dash consists of a stretch of large displays, and these allow the passengers and driver to interact with a customized user interface.

The vehicle is going to use machine learning as well to adapt to the driving style of the user and can adjust environmental settings for the passengers if it senses the driver is asleep.

Sony has not announced any plans concerning mass manufacture of the Vision S though it will most probably market the sensor arrays and other software features of the car.