Honda and Sony announced their partnership in March 2022. These two companies have surprisingly announced that they will reveal electric cars. The partnership, called Sony Honda Mobility, introduced a new electric prototype at CES 2023.
Sony and Honda announce joint car brand: Afeela
With the promotion, the name AFEELA stands out as the automobile brand of the new partnership. The new electric car prototype draws attention with its new features. It is aimed that the new electric car, which will start to be ordered in the first half of 2025, will be brought together with its owners in the same year.
We can safely say that the Afeela prototype is not a small car at all. The model, which has a length of 4,895 mm, a width of 1,900 mm and a height of 1,460 mm, promises a spacious interior with its wheelbase of 3 meters. For comparison, the Afeela prototype is slightly shorter than the 4,994mm long Mercedes-EQE.
In the design, we see the coupe/fastback silhouette with the sloping roof line in the Afeela prototype, where simplicity is kept in the foreground. In the vehicle, in which a smooth design is adopted in general, simplicity is preserved with thin lighting groups. The 21-inch aerodynamic wheels of the car are proof that efficiency is kept at the forefront.
The details that prevent the smooth design of the car are the cameras that are used extensively in the vehicle. It is worth mentioning that in the vehicle, which has 45 cameras and sensors in total, 14 of them are outside. This once again shows us how ambitious the vehicle is in terms of technology.
When it comes to Sony, we are not surprised to see a lot of technological elements inside the vehicle. The screen covering the entire console is the first proof of this. On both sides of this section, there are small screens on which images from the cameras that act as side mirrors are projected.
In addition to these, we can say that Afeela looks like she came from the future with the steering wheel resembling a lever. We see that Sony and Honda avoid physical keys as much as possible in the minimalist designed interior, just like outside. Instead, the floating center console features only a rotary control button. The two large screens at the back also reveal the technological face of the Afeela prototype.
The technological elements in the vehicle are not limited to this. Sony Honda Mobility announced that they want to benefit from augmented reality in the car that will be on the roads in the coming years. Japanese manufacturers are considering using augmented reality especially on the navigation system.
The new electric car will also feature Level 3 semi-autonomous driving systems with the help of 45 cameras and sensors. With the help of the presented sensors and cameras, Afeela’s car, which is expected to be on the roads in 2025, is expected to relieve the driver in many issues.
Sony and Honda declined to give details about the other features of the vehicle. We do not yet have a clear idea about the power and battery units, which are the most curious subject in an electric car. However, in the shared images, it is seen that the vehicle has a range of 377 kilometers (234 miles) with approximately 75 percent battery. This means that the car has a range of around 500 kilometers. It is worth remembering that this range is only an inference we made.
Shortly after the Sony and Honda partnership was announced, we saw the first product of the brands. So what do you think about the Sony and Honda co-production electric car? You can share your views with us in the comments section.