Sony and Honda join forces for new Afeela electric-car brand

Sony Honda Mobility, a joint venture between the two Japanese industrial giants, has confirmed plans to sell its first electric car under the Afeela badge.

The smooth four-door sedan-style hatchback follows two earlier Sony-designed concept cars – the Vision-S from 2020 and Vision-S 02 from 2022.

Sony and Honda say pre-orders are due to open for the first Afeela model in the first half of 2025, ahead of first deliveries in North America planned in 2026 – with cars to be built at a factory in North America.

Drive has contacted Sony Honda Mobility to confirm if there are plans to introduce the Afeela to Australia.

There are no technical details on the battery, electric motors or driving range of the Afeela prototype – other than that it is all-wheel drive, and is sized similarly to a Tesla Model 3 or Hyundai Ioniq 6, at 4895mm long, 1900mm wide and 1460mm tall.

Instead, Sony concentrated on the technology in the car during its reveal at the Consumer Electronics Show in the US.

“Our innovation in mobility will be based on the three As – autonomy, augmentation and and affinity,” the CEO of Sony Honda Mobility, Yasuhide Mizuno, said at the unveiling at CES.

“We believe that our vision of mobility will write a new chapter in the history of how people move.”

Sony announced its collaboration with Honda last March to provide a manufacturing facility and assist in vehicle development – even though the car maker has been slow in its introduction of electric vehicles to its own showrooms.

The Afeela prototype includes 45 cameras and sensors – inside and outside – as well as the installation of the latest 'Snapdragon' computer processor from electronics hardware company Qualcomm.

It also has graphics from Unreal Engine, the technology used to power popular computer games such as Fortnite or Mortal Kombat.

Mr Mizuno said Sony Honda Mobility was planning to “evolve automotive design to not only focus on driving dynamics and performance but also software networks and interfaces.

“We want to think outside of the box to revisit the underlying philosophy of vehicle design.”

Although the Afeela has a relatively-conservative five-door liftback body, it has a 'yoke'-style half-sized steering wheel and an unusual 'media bar' between the headlights which can display information and also 'interact with people outside the vehicle'.

“We anticipate to start taking pre-orders in the first half of 2025. The first shipment will be delivered to customers in North America in Spring (March) 2026.” said Mr Mizuno at CES.