Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Cars
  3. News

The Sony Vision S electric car concept is pure CES magic

Nick Mokey
By

If Hyundai can build flying taxis, why can’t Sony build a car? As it turns out, anything is possible at CES, and on Monday evening the Japanese electronics titan unveiled the Vision S, a concept car built to showcase what Sony can do for the cars of tomorrow. This is, of course, one of many of the best cars at CES 2020 this year — though we didn’t expect to see one from Sony.

The electronics brand has dipped its toes in everything from cameras to  8K TVs and everything in between, so it actually isn’t all that surprising that they would decide to use CES to jump into the auto industry.

Recommended Videos

This story is part of our continuing coverage of CES 2020, including tech and gadgets from the showroom floor.

The Sony Vision S is all-electric

Looking a bit like the Tesla Model 3 with hints of Porsche in the front, the four-door Vision S rolled onstage silently because – as you may expect – it’s electric. The Vision S packs 33 sensors, including radar, lidar, and cameras, but Sony says its real innovation is infusing the data collected from all those things to produce cleaner data with fewer errors. Although it’s not widely known, Sony isn’t entire new to this game: Its CMOS sensors, like those used in its cameras, are already used in vehicles like the Toyota Corolla and Lexus NX.

Sony’s foray into lidar — the “eyes” of an autonomous car that allow it to sense how far it is from obstacles around it– comes as a bigger surprise. The race to build cheaper, more reliable lidar has become one of the hottest contests in automotive technology, and Sony will face upstarts like Quanergy and LeddarTech, along with established players like Velodyne and Bosch.

Sony Vision S
Mario Tama/Getty Images

Inside, the Vision S looks like what you would expect from a company that built its reputation on TVs, with a massive panoramic dash screen that stretches below the entire windshield, just like in the Byton M-Byte. The rear seats both have screens of their own, of course, and Sony says the car provides 360-degree panoramic audio.

“We believe that the evolution of mobility will also redefine cars as a new entertainment space,” said Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida.

The EV platform the car rides on was built by Magna, a massive Canadian manufacturer that also supplies GM, Ford, Mercedes, and, yes, Tesla. Not surprisingly, Sony had help from a number of other partners, including Qualcomm, Continental, and Nvidia.

Can you buy the Sony Vision S?

Sony will show the concept off at its CES 2020 booth, but don’t expect Sony dealerships to spring up anytime soon – it’s merely a demonstration to get other automakers interested in Sony’s wares. The chances of Sony’s EV actually getting off the ground is fairly unlikely, so you may not want to get your hopes up if you really like the design. However, anything is possible when it comes to the Consumer Electronics Show.

Follow our live blog for more CES news and announcements.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Nick Mokey
Nick Mokey
Managing Editor
As Digital Trends’ Managing Editor, Nick Mokey oversees an editorial team delivering definitive reviews, enlightening…
The Sony car is real. Sensor-studded Afeela EV destined for U.S. roads in 2026
The Sony Afeela has a colorful screen in its grille.

When Sony teased its Vision S concept car at CES 2020, industry wonks everywhere had the same reaction: Neat, now what? At CES 2023, the Japanese company answered that question by introducing the Afeela, an EV produced in partnership with Honda and destined for U.S. roads in 2026.

Initial details were light, but the sedan closely resembles the slippery Vision-S concept Sony showed off three years ago. And like that prototype, it’s all about the sensors -- Sony claims it will contain a total of 45 sensors, from lidar to radar and in-car cameras. A stripe-like strip in the grille glows different colors allowing the car to “express itself” – a common theme in Sony’s CES 2023 presentation.

Read more
Aska’s ludicrous SUV-sized flying car gets closer to reality at CES 2023
The Aska A5 flying car drives across a bridge with its rotor arms folded up for storage.

In a field of high-tech cars as crowded as CES 2023, it takes a lot to stand out, but the Aska A5 does one trick not even the wildest Mercedes can compete with: It flies.

On Wednesday, the Silicon Valley upstart unveiled the first fully functional prototype of the A5, an electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle (eVTOL) that the company claims will hit both roads and skies in 2026. Previously, it has only demonstrated a small-scale prototype.

Read more
The wildest electric motorcycle got wilder at CES 2023
The entire rim of the rear motorcycle wheel acts as a motor, eliminating the need for a chain or belt to drive the wheel.

Tron-style hubless electric motorcycles have made the rounds as concepts and Instagram clickbait for years, but like flying cars, they always seemed just out of reach. That changed last year when Verge (formerly RMK) began shipping its outrageous TS and TS Pro, and since then, the Finnish manufacturer hasn’t rested on its laurels. At CES 2023, Verge showed up with the TS Ultra, an upgraded version of the TS that pushes it to ever more unimaginable levels of power.

Though it looks nearly identical to its predecessors, a new powertrain elevates horsepower from the unique patented hub motor to 201 horsepower, nearly double the 107 horsepower of the older TS, and still a huge leap up from 137 hp in the TS Pro. Torque specs are even more eye-popping, up from an already excessive 737 ft-lb to 885 ft-lb, closer to what you would find on turbodiesel pickup than a motorcycle, or even a car.

Read more