Sony has been talking about developing electric cars for a couple of years now, and it even went as far as showing off a concept car at CES this past January, but now it’s official. Sony and Honda have joined forces to build EVs together, under the new Sony Honda Mobility Inc. name, and they plan on selling their first EV in 2025.
This joint venture was first announced back in March, 2022, but it’s only now becoming officially confirmed that both Sony and Honda will build production EVs together. Each company will contribute five billion yen ($37.52 million) of capital to Sony Honda Mobility, making a total of ten billion yen ($74 million), and each will have a 50-percent stake of the company.
Sony isn’t the first technology and electronics company to announce desires to build electric cars. Apple has been rumored to be working on an electric car project for years now, with some rumors of it partnering with other brands to build it, such as BMW and Hyundai. However, Sony is the first to officially confirm its plan to build and sell an actual production car and, not only that, also confirm a release date. It’s easy to shrug off claims of a technology company building an electric car but Sony’s partnership with Honda does make it real.
Yasuhide Mizuno, a current senior executive at Honda, will serve as CEO for Sony Honda Mobility, while Izumi Kawanishi, a senior executive at Sony, will become COO of the joint venture.
Honda has already announced plans to invest over $37 billion in to developing EVs and have 30 fully-electric vehicles on sale globally within the decade. At this point, it’s unclear if the forthcoming EVs from Sony Honda Mobility will be part of that expansion, or if they’ll be their own vehicles but it’s clear what each brand brings to the deal. Honda will be able to provide all of its automobile-manufacturing expertise, while Sony will help provide the digital technology. Honda knows how to make chassis, electric motors, and cars that handle well. Sony is good at making digital imaging, mobility, and telecommunications tech.
Whenever a new non-car brand announces it’s going to be building EVs, most car enthusiasts’ eyes roll back so hard they can see their own brain. Except Sony is doing it the right way by partnering with Honda. Honda knows how to make a good car and its expertise will actually allow Sony to deliver on its promise.