CES 2023: Sony, Honda Officially Unveils Afeela EV Concept

The strange bedfellows of Japanese electronic and entertainment giant Sony and car maker Honda, have revealed their first electric vehicle (EV).

Sony Honda Mobility took to the CES 2023 stage in Las Vegas to officially unveil its first prototype, called the Sony Afeela.

It has taken just one year to arrive at this. In January 2022 at the CES 2022 show, Sony said it was planning to launch a company in spring 2022 to examine a potential entry into the electric vehicle (EV) market.

Sony Honda Mobility

Fast forward to March 2022, March Honda and Sony said they would create a joint venture to develop and sell EVs beginning in 2025.

In April Honda said it would develop three new dedicated platforms for its electric vehicle (EV) plans, with one to be jointly created with General Motors (GM), and the other with Sony.

Honda has also invested in autonomous vehicle development, but is later than many of its rivals where it comes to fully electric vehicles.

In June this year Honda and Sony created a joint venture, namely Sony Honda Mobility.

Sony Afeela

And now a year after Sony first mooted a potential entry into the electric vehicle (EV) market, a prototype has been unveiled at CES 2023.

“SHM strives to become a Mobility Tech Company that will pursue innovation in mobility by combining cutting-edge technology and passion along with people who pioneer the future with their creativity, based on our corporate purpose “Move people, through the pursuit of innovation with diverse inspirations,” said representative director, chairman and CEO Yasuhide Mizuno at CES 2023.

“SHM announces its new brand, “Afeela,” along with the unveiling of a prototype that demonstrates a new relationship between people and mobility,” he said. “Towards realizing safety and security: Our prototype is equipped with a total of 45 cameras and sensors inside and outside the vehicle, together with 800 TOPS of maximum computing power for ECU.”

“Mobility space into entertainment space by seamlessly integrating real and virtual worlds,” he said. “To begin with, SHM has started to build new values and concepts for mobility with Epic Games.”

Mizuno said that SHM will develop the production model based on this prototype. The EV also comes with a grille-mounted “Media Bar” that will display pertinent charging and vehicle information.

Pre-orders are planned to begin in the first half of 2025, sales by the end of 2025, and delivery from spring in 2026 in North America.