Australia
China
India
Indonesia
Japan
Malaysia
Philippines
Singapore
South Korea
Taiwan
Thailand
Vietnam
Germany
Hong Kong
USA
Switzerland
Singapore
United Kingdom
Other / International
The electric vehicle market in Japan has lagged behind China, the US, and several European countries. Japanese firms are now ramping up the scale of initiatives and the recently formed Sony Honda Mobility has said it plans to release its first EV in the US in early 2026.
A joint venture between Honda Motor and Sony Group, Sony Honda Mobility intends to sell high-end EVs with an entertainment twist, such as music and games in addition to the traditional purpose of transportation. Honda is tasked with manufacturing the vehicles while Sony will work on the software and entertainment aspects.
The uniqueness of Sony Honda Mobility
EVs produced by Sony Honda Mobility will be sold online in the United States and Japan, with a Europe release sometime after. The entertainment and other services will be available to users on a monthly subscription basis.
Company executives have said that the vehicles will function like a rolling smartphone but have not yet released key details such as battery capacity, pricing, or the platform for the new vehicle.
Sony said it will provide onboard controllers for gaming and cloud-based services for entertainment options and payments. The EVs will also come with a Level 3 autonomous drive system (self-driving) that will allow vehicle owners to enjoy the entertainment offerings while paying less attention to driving.
The EVs will be manufactured by Honda at one of its plants in Ohio, US, and Sony Honda Mobility has no plans to construct its own manufacturing facilities.
Honda, a leader in internal combustion engine vehicles, has been developing electric vehicles for a few years now but has been slower to shift to EVs compared to its US or European counterparts. The company has said it aims to sell only electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles by 2040. Honda also plans to launch two EV models in the US by 2024 through its partnership with GM. Separately, Honda and LG Energy Solution are working together to set up a $4.4 bn battery plant in Ohio. The Japanese automaker is working on an electric vehicle platform called the e:Architecture, but it is not clear if Sony Honda Mobility too will use the same system.
Meanwhile, Japanese tech giant Sony has previously built EV concepts called the Vision-S 01 and the Vision-S 02. “We want to contribute to the evolution of mobility by providing the basis with network functions,” Sony Chairman and CEO Kenichiro Yoshida said.
State of Japan’s EV market
The Japanese government has set a target to sell only environmentally friendly cars in the country by 2035 and is also offering subsidies to boost sales. Electric vehicles made up 36.2% of total new car sales in Japan in 2020, but over 95% of these sales are of hybrid electric vehicles which are considered eco-friendly and are not categorized as ‘Clean Energy Vehicles’. Pure electric vehicle sales only account for only 1% of overall car sales in Japan.
Japan was the world’s fourth-largest auto market in 2021, behind China, but when it comes to EV sales the country is far behind. However, Japan broke into the Global Top 10 EV Sales rankings for the first time in January 2022, as per independent EV market and strategy research firm, Researcher and Research.
Taking a look at Japanese carmakers, the majority of them such as Nissan, Toyota and Honda have succeeded in the hybrid space but have lagged in EV sales. New initiatives by these companies are now expected to propel them forward in the later part of this decade.
