Sony-Honda JV named as ‘Afeela’; first EV to come in 2026

KUALA LUMPUR: To fulfil its dream of making electric vehicles, the tech giant Sony entered into an association with Honda last year. The two companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the development of a new range of electric vehicles. Well, now comes an update on the same at the 2023 CES show where the brands revealed the name of their joint venture and also debuted a prototype model.

Sony and Honda's joint venture is named as ‘Afeela’ representing “a new relationship between people and mobility.” It is a place “where people feel mobility as an intelligent entity, and mobility feels people and society using sensing and network IT technologies,” explains Sony Honda Mobility chief executive Yasuhide Mizuno.

Coming to the prototype model, it is a four-door fastback electric sedan, which boasts a clean exterior design with a ‘media’ interactive light bar on the front that not only interacts with the people but also with other vehicles on road. Other key exterior highlights are digital mirrors, a sleek roofline, and aerodynamic 21-inch wheels.

Dimensionally, the concept EV measures 4,895 mm in length, 1,900 mm in width, and 1,460 mm in height, making it similar in size to the all-new Hyundai Ioniq 6 EV.

Looking at the minimalist cabin of the Afeela EV, here the centre of attraction is a large panoramic digital screen. With a seating space for five passengers, the sedan also features a yoke steering wheel with buttons and touchpads, and digital screens for the rear passengers. 

While there is no information yet revealed about the powertrain of the EV, the brands confirmed that the production vehicle will underpin Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Digital Chassis technology offering artificial intelligence systems, enhanced personalisation, and other intuitive technologies to the customers. The EV will be able to process up to 800 trillion operations in a second and offer level 3 automated driving systems powered by 45 cameras and sensors.

Also read: Advanced Level 3 self-driving technology in making by Honda

The pre-orders of the Afeela EV will commence in the first half of 2025, with deliveries slated for international markets in 2026.

Also read: Honda will begin producing a new FCEV based on the CR-V in 2024