On January 4 at the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Vegas, Sony and Honda revealed the product of a partnership they announced last year — an electric vehicle dubbed “Afeela.”
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CES is the world’s largest technology trade show. Held annually, it’s a big deal, serving as a platform for companies to introduce their new technologies to the public.
Sony Honda Mobility chief executive Yasuhide Mizuno unveiled the Afeela prototype in a presentation for the CES crowd inside the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. While there aren’t many details about the vehicle available, it looks like Sony x Honda has eschewed the sleek look of eventual competitors like Lucid and Tesla for an accessible and familiar four-door sedan-style design.
Mizuno sketched a timeline of Afeela’s availability, stating that consumers can put in purchase orders by 2025, though U.S. customers might not expect delivery until 2026. Regarding the car itself, he said, “At the heart of this mobility experience is the word ‘feel.'”
CNN has more about the presentation:
The car will have safety and driver assistance systems from Honda along with entertainment and interactive features from Sony, Mizuno said. When developing the car, the emphasis has been on software and user interface technology as much as on driving dynamics and performance, he said.
Running above the car’s front bumper is a narrow exterior display screen the company calls the media bar. It will allow the vehicle to show information and interact with people outside the vehicle, Mizuno said.
Intriguingly for gamers, Sony and Honda have incorporated graphics technology from Unreal Engine, the company behind the uber-popular game Fortnite. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, Mizuno indicated there would be many entertainment choices inside the Afeela, plus dozens of cameras and sensors for driver and passenger safety.
Interested EV consumers can go to shm-afeela.com, scroll to the bottom, and subscribe with an email address to stay up to date.
