So what does an EV from the people who brought you the Walkman and VTEC actually look like? From the looks of the Sony Honda Mobility Afeela, the firms definitely haven’t cocked it up.
This prototype is from Afeela, the proper brand name given to the Sony Honda Mobility joint venture. It was unveiled tonight at CES 2023, and while I have… thoughts about the name, the design itself means this team-up is off to a good start. Off the bat, Afeela (just Afeela? The Afeela? Unclear) looks great. Sony Honda Mobility grabbed a cup of Porsche 911 and an ounce of Lucid Air, put them in a shaker with ice and served up this delightful sedan. In an age where almost every car has enough styling for three or four cars, the Afeela is a minimalist sight for sore eyes, with gorgeous cab-rearward proportions and a fabulously low roofline. From the clamshell hood to the heckblende tail lights, this is just a clean piece of design.
When you have an actual technology company designing cars, it shouldn’t be surprising that a touchscreen isn’t the only way to interact with the infotainment system. Perched atop the center console sits a delightful rotary knob with hard buttons for key functions like muting audio and navigating to the home screen. Mind you, the climate control panel is capacitive-touch, but at least the heated seats aren’t buried in the damn infotainment and the glovebox features a conventional release. Overall, it seems like Sony gets this infotainment thing a lot better than many car manufacturers.
Mind you, one thing Sony Honda Mobility hasn’t nailed is the steering wheel. See, wheels are supposed to be round, and this one is U-shaped. The Tesla yoke is stupid, the Lexus yoke is stupid, and this yoke is also stupid. Stop trying to reinvent the wheel, you’ll only run yourself over in the process.
However, the Afeela packs a full suite of driver nannies to prevent said running-over from ever happening. This thing has 45 cameras and sensors on it including LIDAR, with the very reasonable aim of Level 3 autonomy, even if it sounds like the joint venture isn’t entirely sure what Level 3 autonomy entails. Fingers crossed someone realizes what Level 3 autonomy entails soon.
Styling, infotainment, and safety are all well and good, but what about the greasy specifications that really matter to car enthusiasts? Well, limited information on this prototype has been released, but what’s out there might make you Afeela happy. I’m talking double-wishbone suspension up front, a multi-link setup in the back, staggered 245/40R21 front tires and 275/35R21 rear tires, and all-wheel-drive. Proper performance chops that suggest some level of zest. As for the Afeela’s size, overall length clocks in at 192.7 inches (4,895 mm), wheelbase at 118.1 inches (3,000 mm), width at 74.8 inches (1,900 mm), and height at 57.5 inches (1,460 mm). That’s all within spitting distance of a BMW 5 Series, which surely helps give the Afeela presence.
While the Afeela we see today is only a prototype, Sony Honda Mobility said in a press release that a production model based on this prototype will go on sale in America in late 2025, with deliveries to start in early 2026. It will be produced in North America, too, likely in Ohio where Honda already has a huge presence. If the finished car looks like this with a set of license plates, it should be an extremely compelling alternative to the Mercedes-Benz EQE, even if the name’s a bit off-putting. (Photo credits: Patrick George, Sony Honda Mobility)
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Got a hot tip? Send it to us here. Or check out the stories on our homepage. Support our mission of championing car culture by becoming an Official Autopian Member. “I’ve got a bad AFEELA about this.” True story….when Phantom Menace came out, I went with some friends. I had commented before the movie that at some point in all of the original trilogy, someone at some point says “ I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” There were some chuckles. The movie starts and that was the first fucking line of dialog. George Lucas lost me right there. And then he changed the original trilogy. I can’t watch Star Wars anymore. Thanks George. The only real issue is, with the engine way out back and an unloaded trunk, the nose can poke into the air and look a bit silly. However, with an EV skateboard design where the batteries sit under the cabin, shoot, that solves the upward snoot problem. Heck, you might even get a trunk with an electric 411. A trunk! Sony Honda Mobility Afeela. They should’ve went with Sony Honda Inventive Transportation. “Afeela” sounds like a guy who can’t reside within so many feet of an elementary school. The company should be called the Sony Honda Mobility Electric Ground Motor Association. SHMEGMA for short, of course. I always laugh whenever I see those Smeg appliances. They look nice! Also, they have the most-used insult from “Red Dwarf” right across the front. LOL. Aesthetically, the car may be minimalist/modernist, notably lacking the crumpled-paper aesthetic that’s haunted Japanese cars of the last decade. But technologically, it’s downright baroque. 45 cameras, LIDAR, autonomy, wraparound touchscreens, cameras for mirrors, no door handles… it’s ornamental overcomplication meant to inspire a sense of awe. It’s the absolute antithesis of minimalism. This ornamental tech gives us an idea of who this car is for and how much it will cost. And it’s not Honda’s typical customer base. Or even Shonda, they could’ve named the celebrity endorsements. -Henry Hill Because that’s the only way a yoke would make sense.
