Sony to put PS5 in Honda EV? JV car coming in 2026

Sony to put a PlayStation 5 in its upcoming EV co-developed with Honda? Sounds crazy, but they’ve said it! First, some context. Sony and Honda has joined hands to penetrate the electric vehicle market, and the 50:50 JV company, Sony Honda Mobility (SHM), was formally established last month.

The fruit of that marriage, an EV, will be open for pre-orders before the end of 2025, followed by the first deliveries for US customers in spring 2026. Deliveries in Japan will start in the second half of the same year, according to SHM. The first product will be manufactured at a Honda factory in North America. Not so soon then.

Back to the part about the PS5 (or PS6 by the time the EV is ready?), which is part of entertainment on the go and a more entertainment-driven vehicle. In an interview with the Financial Times, picked up by IGN Southeast Asia, president and COO of SHM Izumi Kawanishi said it’s possible to integrate the PS5 into cars. The console and other Sony services are part of a greater vision to make a more entertainment-driven vehicle.

“Sony has content, services and entertainment technologies that move people. We are adapting these assets to mobility, and this is our strength against Tesla,” Kawanishi told FT. SHM CEO Yasuhide Mizuno added that future hardware “will cater to the entertainment and network we would like to offer.”

The first time Sony showed its intention to enter the car scene was at CES 2020, where it unveiled the Vision-S. The concept car was packed with an array of cameras, screens, autonomous driving capabilities, as well as streaming services for Sony’s multimedia catalogue and the ability to connect a PlayStation gaming console. Two years later, Sony wheeled out the Vision-S 02 concept, a seven-seater. The sedan was then renamed Vision-S 01.

Although Sony initially said it will not produce vehicles for mass consumption, it had been conducting road tests, and it later emerged that the electronics and entertainment giant was looking for an automotive partner to commercialise its EV project. In came Honda. The SHM concept will make its debut on January 4, 2023, in Las Vegas. Click on the links to read more on Sony’s moves, in chronological order.

GALLERY: Sony Vision-S 01

GALLERY: Sony Vision-S 02

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