- Sony Honda Mobility debuted their first EV brand Afeela
- The first EV to carry the Afeela branding will debut in North American markets in 2026
- The EV will feature connected vehicle technology, active safety features, an electric drivetrain and a high-end entertainment experience
Sony-Honda Mobility has announced its new brand Afeela and has debuted the first EV concept sedan under the banner. The new prototype is the evolution of the EV that Japanese tech giant Sony and automaker Honda have been developing for some time now. The Afeela EV prototype will incorporate expertise from the two organisations in the field of AI, entertainment, VR, and AR. The vehicle will also boast of having a PlayStation 5 built right into it, according to reports that came in earlier. The EV is expected to hit the North American market in 2026.
Sony Honda Mobility debuted its first EV brand Afeela
Sony Honda Mobility has now revealed its first EV brand which goes by the name Afeela. The JV has also yielded a fresh EV concept that adopts a sedan body style. The EV is currently in the prototyping stage and will be the first model to debut the Afeela brand when it finally launches in North American markets in 2026.
During the launch, Sony Honda Mobility CEO Yasuhide Mizuno spoke about Afeela as their in-house brand that resonates with the idea of “an interactive relationship where people feel the sensation of interactive mobility”. The JV aims to achieve this by pooling the prowess of the two Japanese industry giants in fields such as AI, entertainment, virtual reality and augmented reality. The company envisions incorporating autonomy, augmentation, and affinity as the three major themes of the Afeela-branded EV. The company has also highlighted its partnership with Qualcomm which will yield a new generation of vehicular chipsets under the Snapdragon brand that will power multiple gadgetry and electronic components on the upcoming Afeela EV.
While there is no word on the vehicle’s powertrain characteristics, CEO Mizuno highlighted the vehicle’s active safety credentials. The Afeela EV will get 45 sensors in the form of cameras, radar, ultrasonic, and lidar scattered across the exterior of the vehicle to achieve autonomous drivability. The EV that was showcased however has come some way from the prototypes of the Vision S that were showcased sometime back. The new EV under the Afeela brand has adopted a simplistic light bar design with a smart media screen near the headlights. This design feature according to Mizuno allows the vehicle to interact with people and society by displaying various information as well as interactive graphics. The interiors too will boast of high audio-visual experience which could take notes from Sony’s expertise in this field. A PS5 is also speculated to feature built right into the cabin.
