Sony, Honda collaborate on 'premium' electric vehicles that are born in the USA

Sony and Honda have announced plans to jointly produce a "premium" electric vehicle that will be built in the United States, and they want it to be on North American roads beginning in 2026. Sony Honda Mobility (SHM), the new company spun up for the venture, shared no details as to the price, type of vehicle(s), battery …

[jake]

"continuous relationships with customers across the entire value-chain."

Oh, please. Do fuck off.

There is absolutely no way I would ever buy into such a thing. When I purchase a car, my cash outflow is done with that one transaction. If you attempt to pick my pocket on an ongoing basis, your vehicle(s) enter my "do not buy" list. This is not negotiable.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: "continuous relationships with customers across the entire value-chain."

"This is not negotiable."

Coreect, you won't be negotiating as they plan to create mandatory safety software that rhey'll have the government enforce. It will be filed under "security and safety" on your bill.

It's not hard to see modern capitalism for what it is. Sadly, the Tinfoil Hats either are right about everything or will be eventually.

[jake]

Re: "continuous relationships with customers across the entire value-chain."

There is only one small flaw in their clever plan:

Here in the US, they cannot compel me to buy into their protection racket. Things might be different in your country.

[John Brown (no body)]

Re: "continuous relationships with customers across the entire value-chain."

Have you tried buying a non-"smart" TV recently? The options are very limited, if available at all. That's how they "force" you. Take what's on offer, do without or try for a less optimal workaround.

My TV was purchased as an "end of line" dumb TV at about the time when there were no new models of dumb TVs available other than cheap tat. Today, pretty much the only option would be a computer monitor at a significantly higher price for a similar screen. That's doable since I don't actually use any "over the air" services so a display with a tuner is redundant in my case anyway. On the other hand, few computer monitors come with remote on/off and I might have to get of my arse to turn it on :-)

[elaar]

Re: "continuous relationships with customers across the entire value-chain."

You could just completely block a smart-TV in your firewall, that's what I do. I might unblock it once a year to check for updates and that's it. It's a shame to miss out on some of the best Panels just because you're put off by the "smart" rubbish.

[Chet Mannly]

Re: "continuous relationships with customers across the entire value-chain."

Or just leave it disconnected from the network if you want a dumb TV. No need to worry about security patches if there's no way to hack into it...

I use a separate TV stick that I have locked down for streaming.

[TaabuTheCat]

Re: "continuous relationships with customers across the entire value-chain."

They got that part right. They'll be having relationships with you from the day you own it until the day you sell it. Gives new meaning to the dealer's "free lifetime lube jobs included" promo. You're going to need them.

[Geoff Campbell]

Re: "When I purchase a car, my cash outflow is done with that one transaction"

Is that true? You never need spare parts, servicing, fuel? I'm impressed.

GJC

[John Brown (no body)]

Re: "When I purchase a car, my cash outflow is done with that one transaction"

None of those are fixed monthly outgoings and generally depend entirely on how you use the vehicle. Don't use it for a week? No cost, no wear and tear. Subscription based apps, heated seats? You pay whether you use them or not.

[Helstrom]

"the amount of concentration required to drive will be reduced"

This statement alone scares the hell out of me. I'm speechless that vehicle manufacturers are counting on us to not pay attention while driving even though their solutions are only level 2/3 autonomous.

[YetAnotherXyzzy]

Playstation on wheels? If Sony is involved, it will more likely be a rootkit on wheels. Maybe they have learned their lesson, but better safe than Sony.

[MJI]

Funny I have had a lot of Sony tech and I have had good use out of the stuff.

Their CRTs were unbeatable. I do like their games consoles.

Have used their video cameras since the 1980s. With a tube camera and separate recorder.

But then also had good stuff from Pioneer, so not alone.

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Honda only offers a single EV currently, and it's not for sale in North America.

So obviously Honda are marketing toward Real American (tm) Men who buy pickup trucks and don't want any of those emasculating EVs from overly woke marques like Ford or GM

[M.V. Lipvig]

Re: Honda only offers a single EV currently, and it's not for sale in North America.

As one of those Real American Truck Driving Men you speak of, I am one. I would have no problem buying one, but the US is not ready for them. Example, towing. Towing a heavy load absolutely kills range. I can put a 10,000lb trailer behind my dino truck and go coast to coast (perspective, the same distance in Europe means starting in Portugal and driving to Asia) with a 15 minute stop for fuel every 300 miles. With an EV, it's an hour or more every hundred miles, provided there's a charger 100 miles down the road. This is not a guarantee, but there will be a petrol station every 20 to 40 miles. The US needs a lot more charging stations and a lot more power generation available before EVs are the choice. Sure, the fartcan brigade will be crying in their light beers along with the coal rollers, but the rest of us are just waiting on reliable infrastructure.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Honda only offers a single EV currently, and it's not for sale in North America.

As an Afghan veteran I can only recommend Toyotas as the perfect platform

Praise ISIS

[Irony Deficient]

Re: Honda only offers a single EV currently, and it’s not for sale in North America.

As an Afghan veteran I can only recommend Toyotas as the perfect platform

Coïncidentally, the Hilux * hasn’t been sold in North America since the mid-1990s.

* — It hadn’t even been sold here under the Hilux name since the mid-1970s.

[Michael Wojcik]

Re: Honda only offers a single EV currently, and it’s not for sale in North America.

That's why I have a '92. Though here in the US it went by the more prosaic name "Pickup" (if you go by the marketing materials) or "Truck" (what it says on the owner's manual).

I quite like "Truck" as a model name. In the '80s we had a Toyota Van, the predecessor to the Previa. It's a pity they didn't sell the Tercel in the US as the Toyota Car.

[Irony Deficient]

(perspective, the same distance in Europe means starting in Portugal and driving to Asia)

Western Asia, that is — say, from Lisbon to Ankara. (From Lisbon, a drive to Moscow is two miles / 3 km shorter than to Ankara.)

[Kevin McMurtrie]

Re: Honda only offers a single EV currently, and it's not for sale in North America.

You're sticking close to the major highways because you have a short range that varies with conditions and you're very sensitive to gasoline prices (6 MPG?). Those same highways have very fast EV chargers from coast-to-coast.

There's still work to be done on the charging and battery tech but don't forget that vehicle R&D is long and slow. Dino car bodies with a quick engine swap aren't competitive or desirable. High performance clean slate designs that started development years ago are on the road now. Honda and Toyota are far enough behind in their R&D that they risk having nothing to sell in the future.

Bonus - EV trucks today have 600 to 1000+ HP with instant delivery. They aren't using oversized or exotic motors so there's no reason for those numbers to ever go down.

[Michael Wojcik]

Re: Honda only offers a single EV currently, and it's not for sale in North America.

Those same highways have very fast EV chargers from coast-to-coast.

The highways I drive on sure as fuck don't. And they're the fastest, most direct route between my origin and destination.

[John Brown (no body)]

Re: Honda only offers a single EV currently, and it's not for sale in North America.

"but the rest of us are just waiting on reliable infrastructure."

I suspect it will be a long while before all use cases are covered by EVs, if ever, other than people needing to change their behaviours and expectations. Something that may never happen. But a significant majority never tow or travel long distances. They are the current target market. Even my fairly high annual mileage driving is almost covered by existing EVs. It's fairly rare my daily drive exceeds 200 miles one way with a number of hours stop at the other end but is commonly 200-300 total per day. I just can't afford an EV at that higher range capacity yet and leasing isn't an option. Prices rise sharply at the higher annual mileage allowances for leasing and none of the ones I have looked at go above 30,000 miles per year. That means phoning them up for a quote. Which basically tells me it's in the price range of "if you have to ask, you can't afford it"

[Hairy Spod]

Re: Honda only offers a single EV currently, and it's not for sale in North America.

Not only that, its barely competitive with everything else that's available on the market. The Honda EV is woefully short on range, its USP is that it looks cool and has some interesting tech and good you tube reviews all of which are translating into next to f all sales.

[MJI]

Re: Honda only offers a single EV currently, and it's not for sale in North America.

GM make cars - or do you mean Peugeot?

[Will Godfrey]

Re: Honda only offers a single EV currently, and it's not for sale in North America.

As someone in ENGLAND reading what I thought was an ENGLISH rag... how is that relevant?

[Ashentaine]

'Mobility tech company'

Considering every domestic car company is rushing to rebrand themselves as a 'mobility company', simply because the auto market is over-saturated to the point of being far less profitable than it was 20 years ago and battery manufacturing is now cheap enough that they can horn in on the still small and lucrative medical/assisted mobility market (think scooters, electric wheelchairs, etc), I'm expecting this offering won't be a car per se, so much as a car-shaped electric runabout for the ancient boomers that want to have some vestige of independence but still need to keep up appearances. You likely won't be seeing them on the highways so much as puttering from the retirement condos to the supermarket across the street.

Toyota already started moving into this space last year, GM quickly grabbed their coattails to follow, and now all the others are scrambling to get a foothold while there's still time. Sony has had designs on this for a while too, so taking on a partnership with Honda to get established is no real surprise.

[Kevin McMurtrie]

Sony software?

Has Honda tried using their phones? Their Xperia phones are so "stock" that important vendor components are missing. UX, cellular, carrier, graphics, camera, GPS... All missing parts needed to run as advertised.

[Hubert Thrunge Jr.]

Sony Playstation Car?

If you press X O L1 then R2 followed by Start it'll park itself.

Not sure which bottom makes it jump the queue. I think that one is only available on Audi's and BMWs

[MJI]

Re: Sony Playstation Car?

Jump - that would be X

[Michael Wojcik]

Re: Sony Playstation Car?

Dual Shock steering wheels so you and your passenger can both drive!

[John Brown (no body)]

Re: Sony Playstation Car?

<Has image of Maggie Simpson from the title sequence "driving" with her toy steering wheel next to Marge>

[MachDiamond]

For the premium market

The last thing the US needs is yet another premium EV. I keep hoping a whole bunch of Renault, Seat, Skoda, MG and BYD EV's start being imported to the US. VW should have brought out the ID.3 instead of just the bigger ID.4. Not everybody in the US is looking for an urban assault vehicle. Not everyone in the US has a burning need to drive from coast to coast every other month or make a quick trip to Alaska to see the polar bears. (you want distance, plug Homer, Alaska into google maps and see how far that is from Seattle). A couple of years ago I was watching the prices on off-lease Chevy Bolts drifting down and now they're hard to find at twice the price. Of course, with GM fitting a new battery in them that's 10% bigger and resetting the warranty, they're a damn good buy. A $50k Tesla doesn't work for me. A Kia Niro or Hyundai Kona EV would be a treat, but there are very very few of them for sale used and when they come up, they are very dear.