Sony Honda Mobility Reveals New Brand AFEELA

Sony Honda Mobility Inc. (SHM) announced its new brand “AFEELA” and unveiled a new type of mobility prototype, at CES 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. AFEELA’s exterior features a “Media Bar” which allows intelligent mobility to express itself to surrounding people using light, enabling interactive communication between mobility and people. Peeking inside the Afeela EV sedan reveals a U-shaped yoke-style steering wheel—seemingly borrowed from the Tesla Model S Plaid—among several futuristic elements. The cabin glows with ambient lighting and we can see a rotary controller ahead of the center armrest to access the car’s entirely digital dashboard. The dash is wholly comprised of screens stretching from door to door. From a distance, the interface reminds us of the homepage you’d see on a PlayStation console—that must be Sony’s influence. A total of 45 cameras and sensors are scattered throughout the inside and outside of the vehicle, and it sports a powerful onboard computer. The production vehicle based on the Afeela EV sedan prototype is expected to offer both Level 2 and 3 driver-assistance technology. SHM will develop the production model based on this prototype, and plans to start taking pre-orders in the first half of 2025, commence sales by the end of 2025, and begin delivery in the spring of 2026 in North America.