Sony on Wednesday unveiled a prototype of the brand new “Afeela” electrical automobiles it’s going to construct along with Honda, saying it might harness its huge leisure content material because it appears to change into a participant in next-generation vehicles.
Sony gave a glimpse of the Afeela, which sports activities rounded corners and a glossy black roof, on the CES 2023 know-how commerce present in Las Vegas. The automotive will use know-how from {hardware} maker Qualcomm, together with its “Snapdragon” digital chassis.
Sony’s long-awaited push into electrical automobiles — it introduced the enterprise with Honda in March — reveals how producers are more and more centered on the cockpit expertise in vehicles, which affords the potential to promote content material by way of subscription companies vehicles, particularly as autonomous driving capabilities enhance.
“To be able to realise clever mobility, steady software program updates and high-performance computing are required,” Yashuhide Mizuno, the chief government of Sony Honda Mobility, informed the commerce present. “To that finish, we are going to work intently with Qualcomm.”
Qualcomm on Wednesday launched a brand new processor, the Snapdragon Experience Flex SoC, that handles each assisted driving and cockpit features, together with leisure. Beforehand these features have been dealt with on completely different chips, and bringing them collectively can assist carry down prices, a Qualcomm government informed Reuters.
Sony can be seeking to harness its conventional strengths in sensors. The Afeela can be outfitted with greater than 40 sensors, Mizuno mentioned. The automotive will use the “Unreal Engine” 3-D creation software from Epic Games, the maker of the “Fortnite” sequence of video games.
For Honda, the enterprise with Sony could permit it to hurry up what has to this point been a sluggish shift to electrical. It has additionally struggled through the years to make positive aspects within the luxurious automobile market with its Acura model. The brand new EV can be priced at a premium, the enterprise has mentioned.
The enterprise between Sony and Honda goals to ship its first electrical automobiles by early 2026 in North America.
Shares of Sony have been up 1.6 % in Tokyo commerce, whereas Honda shares have been flat. The benchmark Nikkei 225 was little modified.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
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