Sony Readies to Sell Afleela Electric Car, But Large Questions Loom

As automakers look at the future of driving, with the implementation of autonomous technology, it looks a lot more like passenger-ing. Though fully autonomous mass market vehicles are still years away, Sony Honda Mobility (SMH) thinks America is ready for a futuristic, augmented-reality, interior-centric battery-electric vehicle (BEV) today.

SHM is a 50-50 partnership between Sony and Honda. But, it stands on its own, utilizing the technical, manufacturing, and financial expertise of its parents.

Breaking into the automotive market is a difficult task, especially for a company that hasn't traditionally dealt with the industry. Appliance company Dyson tried its hand, as did Apple. Both have folded their efforts.

Even for seasoned automotive industry veterans, launching a new brand and vehicle in America is a hard row to hoe. Fisker recently filed for bankruptcy, Lucid is burning through a lot of cash and VinFast is barely surviving.

SMH has set up Afeela as a brand, similar to how Hyundai Motor Group has the Genesis brand. Afeela's first electric vehicle is yet unnamed.

It's a high-tech, screen-heavy four-door sedan that the company said will be available to order in 2025 and on sale in 2026. Like Tesla, Afeela will eschew dealerships for a direct-to-consumer sales model.

"Going to market with this product will have to be different from any other car. The relationship with Honda puts a respected, mainstream automaker in the mix, which creates the chance for overcoming consumer hesitation with a new brand. If they realize that Honda is the manufacturer," Stephanie Brinley, associate director of Autointelligence at S&P Global Mobility told Newsweek.

"With the vehicle not acknowledging Sony or Honda in its badges, many consumers will not see the connection and the credibility of those companies won't make a difference for those customers perceptions."

When asked about the lack of badges the company told Newsweek that, "the Afeela's design theme is supposed to be neutral. The theme of the project is the creation of a new mobility value standard, and the idea of adding a logo was not in the first place because we wanted to better suit the user's preferences."

Sony Afeela front view. The Sony Afeela features a digital screen on the grille that is customizable. Sony Honda Mobility

It also pointed to its front exterior media bar on the grille of the sedan that will be customizable with pictures, graphics and words.

The all-wheel drive car, which is about 2 inches shorter than a 2024 Honda Accord, will come equipped with two motors that each deliver 241 horsepower (though that doesn't mean its total will be 482 horsepower, SHM says). Energy is stored in a 91-kilowatt-hour (kWh) battery.

The new Afeela model will be able to charge from 10- to 80-percent in 10 to 15 minutes at a rate of up to 150 kilowatts (kW) under ideal charging conditions.

The unnamed car features a yoke-like steering wheel. Similar designs have garnered their share of complaints from Tesla and Lexus drivers. Afeela has said that there will be several trims levels of its car, and some may get a standard wheel.

The centerpiece of the vehicle (made by an electronics company that also creates TVs) is a wide touchscreen display that stretches the width of the vehicle. It allows for car themes like Into the Spiderverse and Fortnite (both Sony properties) that change the backgrounds of the screens, interior ambient lights and other features to match.

The setup is customizable and open source, meaning eventually Afeela will have co-creators submitting apps and themes to use in the vehicle. All of this will be upgraded continuously through over-the-air updates.

In the short demonstration for the press, the Afeela team showed off the screen, playing movies and video games in addition to the standard media and navigation features, the latter of which can take the right two-thirds, or just the center portion. Rear passengers also have screens in the backs of the front seats and can either watch the same piece of media together, or more likely, three different pieces.

SHM has entered into an agreement with Microsoft to develop an artificial intelligence personal agent, using Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service.

Artificial intelligence will also play a big role in Level 2 and Level 2+ driving assistance under a wide range of driving conditions, says SHM. The company says the Afeela vehicle could potentially reach Level 3 autonomous driving under certain conditions. It also said that regardless of advanced driving assistance systems, it will always be connected to the cloud.

That will help the AI feed itself using pictures and videos of driving situations from all Afeelas on-the-road learning and adapting to new on-road situations. That data will be used, along with the LIDAR and other sensors, for autonomous driving.

"It will enhance and improve recognition features, recognizing both people and vehicles in a variety of situations such as nighttime driving, and bad weather situations. You also get regular system software updates of that giving additional peace of mind," product specialist for Afeela Raisu Williams told Newsweek.

The rep couldn't tell us if the system will be like the Ford and GM options where all roads must be premapped for Level 2+ autonomous driving.

The Afeela will also feature augmented reality on one of the camera display screens, which will note points of interest as one drives by. Though it feels like a forced advertising opportunity, Afeela says it will only display points of interest you have previously told it you are interested in.

Sony Afeela rear view. The Sony Afeela comes standard with two motors and all-wheel drive. Sony Honda Mobility

"So ideally, we want you to be able to work together with AI so it's only giving you information that you want. Let's say for instance, I'm the type of person that wants to know every sushi place that's around, I can program it to tell me that. If you're the type of person that hates sushi you can program it to just not tell you anything," said Williams.

Afeela chose the U.S. market over Asia, where it might make more sense to buy a car from a tech company, to debut the vehicle. A company representative told Newsweek that it thinks that the U.S. market, especially California, can support the launch of the new product.

The company refused to divulge to Newsweek what sales predictions are or if there will be another body style in the future.

"Afeela is an interesting experiment so far; whether it evolves into a sustainable business model and meaningful product entry remains to be seen. Leveraging Sony's entertainment and technology should mean the car can deliver on its entertainment promise, whether the consumer realizes the Sony connection or not. The Honda connection should mean it is a quality product, well-built and safe," said Brinley.

Afeela wants its users to have an affinity for its vehicle. Affinity is one of the three As in its mantra of defined values along with augmentation and autonomy. The electric sedan, with its plain exterior looks but high-tech cabin, assisted driving software and always-connected mindset fits the bill. Still, the most important A for Afeela is America, its first and only confirmed market.

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