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.
This story is part of our continuing coverage of CES 2020, including tech and gadgets from the showroom floor.
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.
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.
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.
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Volkswagen’s newest EVs in China are making its American and European models look unusually conservative.
With Xpeng’s help, VW has introduced 800-volt charging and advanced urban driving assistance. The new VEGA technology package brings its locally developed vehicle platforms and CEA electronic architecture under one umbrella. Bloomberg reports that Volkswagen intends to update VEGA every three months. Western buyers can find pieces of that package, but not the whole thing in a Volkswagen.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?