Honda and Sony confirm mobility joint venture to make electric vehicles. Subscribe to Electric Vehicle News Bitesize Podcast for FREE!

Honda has struck a deal with Sony under which the two Japanese giants will collaborate on electric vehicles.

The alliance between the two will be officially formed as Sony Honda Mobility Inc. and it has been going on for some time. Back in March, it was reported that an agreement between the two companies would be finalized this year and that Honda-built cars would be produced at plants they already own and operate. Additionally, Honda’s role will be to design the mechanics of the vehicle itself, while Sony will focus on consumer interaction with the vehicle.

The press release Sony published confirming the partnership says Sony Honda Mobility “will aim to bring together Honda’s cutting-edge environmental and safety technologies, mobility development capabilities, vehicle body manufacturing technology and after-sales service management experience, with Sony’s expertise in the development and application of imaging, sensing, telecommunication, network and entertainment technologies, to realise a new generation of mobility and services for mobility that are closely aligned with users and the environment, and continue to evolve going forward.”

Sony and Honda intend to have the new company established “within 2022 and to begin the sale of Electric Vehicles and provision of services for mobility in 2025.”

Therefore, we can expect the joint venture to launch the first products in 2025. And there is room to make motorcycles. Sure, Sony’s expertise comes from TVs, phones, and video games, which are often better suited for cars than bikes, but at the same time, expertise can come in handy on two wheels.

That doesn’t mean Sony Honda’s 150kW superbike will have a TV on the dash, but the dash may have cleaner features and efficient, clear voice recognition. That’s not to say that Sony-Honda is about to make a 200-horsepower race bike, but this — and other issues related to vehicle proximity detection or bike-to-bike communication — applies to just about any type of motorcycle.

With this joint venture, it is important to remember that Sony is a consumer brand. It makes things that people want to buy, rather than things which have the sole purpose of being technologically evolutionary. Honda, on the other hand, makes Fireblades and CRF450Rs and Formula One engines (albeit now renamed). These are not consumer products. If Honda was a consumer brand it would have made the Cub and stopped there. Not that CRF450Rs are unpopular, but they don’t sell as well as TVs.

With this in mind, it may be reasonable to point out that Sony Honda Mobility’s primary (if not only) function will be to build practical electric vehicles, and that people will want to buy thousands of electric vehicles.

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