Sony Honda Mobility (SHM) has now been formally established, following the initial announcement of a joint venture (JV) in June 2022.
This follows the signing of a MoU in March by the two Japanese giant corporations for the joint development and commercialization of “high value-added battery electric vehicles (BEVs).”
The formal establishment was announced by the JV’s representative directors, chairman and CEO Yasuhide Mizuno (from Honda) and president and COO Izumi Kawanishi (from Sony).
SHM stated that it will begin accepting pre-orders for its first product before the end of 2025, with first customer deliveries in the United States beginning in 2026.
It goes on to say that deliveries in Japan will begin in the second half of 2026, while the first product will be manufactured at Honda’s North American plant.
In an urban setting, the JV’s high-value EV concept will provide Level 3 autonomous driving capabilities as well as Level 2+ driver assistance. It will also have a new human-machine interface that will connect to cloud services.
SHM has a crossover and a sedan in its lineup. According to Sony, both EVs will have two electric motors that deliver 536 horsepower to all four wheels.
It did not, however, reveal any information about the vehicle’s battery pack, electric range, features, or price. The exact launch date is unknown at this time, but Sony has mentioned a spring 2022 launch window.
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