Sony Vision-S: a test program in Austria

Sony took everyone by surprise at CES 2020 by presenting a car: the Vision-S. The Japanese, high-tech specialist, then unveiled an electric and highly autonomous sedan, but then spoke of a concept, intended to demonstrate technologies developed in-house. But today, this car appears very close to the series …

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The Vision-S produced in series?

During CES 2021, this time virtual because of Covid, Sony doubled the bet, showing the Vision-S on the road in Austria. Since its surprise presentation in January 2020, Sony had not communicated at all on its car, unveiled at the time as a concept car. In the meantime, the car has therefore confined itself to this status: we expected to see some of its technologies (radar, lidar, digital mirrors, screens, autonomous systems, etc.) from other manufacturers. But with the announcement that the sedan, which visually looks very close to the series, undergoes a battery of open-road tests in Austria, the question arises: will Sony produce this car in its own name?

Almost 550 hp and a high-tech interior

This would be a surprising approach, at a time when the big names in digital are announcing partnerships with car manufacturers to develop cars: this is the case of Apple with Hyundai for example, or of Chinese Baidu with Geely. For the record, the Vision-S is a 4.90m long sedan, with two electric motors of 272 hp each. Inside, a digital panel stretches across the entire width of the passenger compartment bringing together the instrument cluster, two central screens, and virtual mirrors, in a design that is reminiscent of the Honda e.