EV from Sony and Honda coming in 2026, possibly also in Europe

Sony Honda Mobility, as the partnership between Sony and Honda is called, was established earlier this year. At the very beginning of 2022, Sony already showed two study models at the CES electronics fair in Las Vegas, with which it made clear its intentions to build cars: the Vision-S 01 and the Vision-S 02. It remains to be seen whether one of them actually leads to the now announced EV. Sony already presented them before the collaboration with Honda took shape.

The Sony Vision S 01.

‘A kind of rolling smartphone’

That collaboration only officially followed in June. Then the duo made it clear that they would operate from Tokyo and that they would sell electric cars from 2025. That aspiration still exists and is becoming a little more concrete today. The sales start of the first Sony Honda product is still set for 2025, although that will be for pre-orders. Its production line will not start running until 2026. That production line will be set up in one of Honda’s factories in the United States. The brand opts for this because the US has a large sales market and is quickly starting to take a more positive view of EVs. In addition, Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act encourages the construction of electric cars domestically, by pushing only the prices of electric cars built there in the domestic market.

Initially, the joint venture’s EV, with Sony developing the software and Honda developing the hardware, will be sold only in the United States and Japan. Later, the car may also come to Europe, as it turns out today. Little is known about the shape and further details of the car. However, he must be able to drive level 3 autonomously. Sony also wants to take the other technology in the car to a higher level, so that it becomes – in its own words – ‘a kind of rolling smartphone’.