Tesla revolutionized the electric car in just a few years, placing the latter as the only alternative to the ecological transition we are facing. Since, all manufacturers are trying to follow suit, not without difficulties both Elon Musk’s lead in the field is important. Many competitors are regularly announced such as Apple or Lucid Motors and all have the will to dominate the market. We must now add a new competitor: Sony. It was during CES 2024 that the Japanese giant gave more details on his SUV, the Vision-S 02.
It is via Sony Mobility that the Japanese firm will introduce its first 100% electric SUV to the market called Vision-S 02. Already mentioned last year, it will accommodate 7 people corn the performance of the vehicle is not yet known just like its autonomy. It will have a 5G connection.
Just like Tesla, the Vision-S 02 SUV will be highly technological and will carry a large number of sensors, but certain approaches are diametrically opposed to the American giant. Indeed, Sony’s SUV will be based on more expensive LiDAR sensors rather than the synthetic vision AI architecture dear to Tesla and managed by 8 cameras making autonomous driving more affordable. Note that Tesla remains open to LiDAR technology. Indeed, some tests were carried out last year with a Model S equipped with this technology.
Where Tesla is aiming for level 5 autonomous driving, Sony aims for level 2+ autonomous driving and has already been able to carry out tests at the beginning of last year on Austrian roads.
The Vision-S 02 relies on the EV Cloud network and will thus provide a network of thousands of charging stations in the entire Europe. These charging stations are owned by a mix of individuals, businesses and the public sector. It will use ToF (Time of Flight) technology. This network of cameras will be able in real time to measure a scene in 3 dimensions. To do this, ToF cameras illuminate the scene and measured objects with a flash of light, and calculate the time that this flash takes to travel between the object and the camera.
Like the Tesla, Sony will offer a centralized screen offering all kinds of services including gaming. PS4 and PS5 games should be playable in streaming via the PSNow but for the moment few details on these options. But Sony has a major advantage here over Tesla.
No release date for the moment but we will keep you informed on JV
