Sony’s idea automobile will likely be examined on public roads simply 12 months after its unveiling

Almost 12 months ago at CES, Sony surprisingly unveiled a concept car. Yes, a Sony car. With the tests going on, it’s more than just a concept to turn noise into a trade show.

According to recent reports, Sony is now testing its S-Vision concept car on public roads. At Sony’s keynote speech at CES 2021, the company announced that it started testing last month by taking the car on a trip across Austria.

The video doesn’t reveal too much, but it is clear that the car has a host of modern features as there are visible sensors on the front and rear bumpers. The Vision-S also has rear-facing cameras instead of exterior mirrors, much like the Honda-E.

When the concept was announced, Sony said the car would have 33 sensors, including CMOS, ToF (Time of Flight) and LiDAR. All of these would work together to support a variety of Level 2 driver aids. That number has been increased to 40, reports Electrek, but it’s not clear what these additional sensors are used for or why they were added.

Comparing the concept image above to the video, the interior of the Sony Vision-S electric concept car appears to have stayed the same, with large screens running the full width of the dash.

The car is also said to have a software-first design and an “impressive audio experience”. We wouldn’t expect anything less from Sony, however.

When it comes to the powertrain, Sony said the Vision-S would have two engines that could deliver over 560 horsepower and could get the car to 60 mph in less than 5 seconds.

Unfortunately, for the time being, these are still the only statistics Sony has released.

Other important information about how much it might cost, how big the battery is, how long it takes to charge, and when it will be released, has not been answered.

[Read: Meet the 4 scale-ups using data to save the planet]

However, one of Sony’s partners working on the vehicle said he feels that everyone involved wants to get this vehicle on the road as soon as possible.

Although the Vision-S is a camouflaged prototype in the video, it appears to be quite advanced in terms of development, at least from the outside. Prototypes usually have lots of body panels and temporary fittings for testing purposes, but the Vision-S is clean and looks like the finished package.

Indeed, the transition from concept to public road test in a year is a quick turnaround and a big step in making the car a reality. We can only assume that the car was already quite well developed when it was launched in 2020.

Take that with a grain of salt, however. Building a one-off prototype is a very different fish kettle than scaling it up for mass production. Just ask Elon Musk.

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Published on January 12, 2021 – 08:54 UTC