Afeela is Honda, Sony’s electric vehicle joint venture brand 

The unlikely electric vehicle (EV) partnership between automaker Honda and electronics giant Sony cemented last year will now be called Afeela. This came with a new four-door EV prototype of the same name, unveiled during Sony’s presentation at the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. 

“Afeela represents our concept of an interactive relationship where people feel the sensation of interactive mobility and where mobility can detect and understand people and society by utilizing sensing and AI (artificial intelligence) technologies,” according to Sony Honda Mobility CEO Yasuhide Mizuno.

Quite a mouthful, but the company is determined to make it much more than just marketing fluff. Mizuno says that Afeela will strive to embody three main themes: autonomy, augmentation, and affinity, adding that name purposely places the word ‘feel’ at the heart of the mobility experience.   

Sony Honda Mobility CEO Yasuhide Mizuno presents the Afeela prototype at the 2022 CES 

The Afeela prototype it exhibited is a far cry from the Vision-S concept that Sony showed at CES three years ago, with a more streamlined shape. A ‘media bar’ at the front bumper can interact with users and share information such as weather conditions and the EV’s state of charge, while other details such as black hubcaps and a contrast black roof convey sleekness. 

Over 40 sensors such as cameras, radar, ultrasonic, and lidar are located on the Afeela’s exterior, allowing it to detect objects as well as drive autonomously. For the cabin, Afeela features an interface powered by Unreal Engine graphics technology provided by Epic Games of Fortnite fame.

The Afeela will be bristling with tech inside and out

Afeela has high hopes for the production version of its maiden prototype, feeling confident enough to field it against similar offerings from Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volvo, and Audi. According to Sony, it expects subscription services to be offered for the vehicle’s software, entailing a monthly fee for access to specific features.         

Afeela

Mizuno notes that customers can order and purchase the Afeela by 2025. It will be built at one of Honda’s factories, with the first units to arrive at the U.S. market by 2026. Europe and Japan will follow at a later date. 

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