Two companies’ venture aims to be able to produce an electric vehicle to enter the North American market by 2026.
Sony as well as Honda’s mobility venture revealed the first EV prototype named Afeela during the Sony’s unveiling during CES at Las Vegas Wednesday. The brand will be on the first production model of the joint venture’s electric vehicle, which is scheduled to launch across North America in 2026.
There is still a lot to learn about the brand’s new name however Sony Honda Mobility President Yasuhide Mizuno has said that the vehicle will draw on Sony’s expertise in AI entertainment, VR and augmented reality to offer a distinct electric vehicle.
“Afeela symbolizes our vision of an interactive interaction where people experience the feeling of interconnected mobility, and where mobility is able to detect and comprehend people and society using sensing and AI technology,” Mizuno said.
More than 40 sensors, which include cameras and radars, ultrasonics and lidar sensors are embedded around the exterior of the vehicle, improving its ability to recognize objects and operate in a completely autonomous manner. Based on Mizuno, Afeela will attempt to incorporate three key concepts, including autonomy along with augmentation and affinity.
The model that was revealed at the event was not exactly like the concept that was first unveiled in the hands of Sony during CES in the year 2003. It was instead an automobile with a bright bar that ran across on the side, with a fully closed grille as well as a glossy black roof. Hubcaps with black hubcaps and a bright design on those wheelwells are a few features that were more unique on the exterior. aspects. A few observers noted that the Afeela prototype resembled something that was a cross between the Porsche 911 and the Lucid Air.
It is expected that the brand new EV can be priced so that it is competitive to top automakers like Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volvo and Audi. Sony has stated that it plans to launch its software to provide subscription services. This means that car owners could be required to pay monthly in order to use certain options.
It was around three years ago that Sony shocked the crowd at CES by launching the sleek concept car called”the Vision-S. The Vision-S featured infotainment screens that spanned the entire pillar and a strong focus of (what other than) entertainment and music the Vision-S was meant to demonstrate what it could look like when Sony had actually created cars. The company assured everyone that it would never be making.
The truth was that this wasn’t the case. In early 2022, the news came out that Sony had formed an alliance in partnership with Honda with the sole purpose of manufacturing the electric vehicle and selling them. The cars manufactured by Sony and Honda are scheduled to be produced within one of Honda’s 12 factories in the US however, no specifics were released on the anticipated quantities. The EV will first be available within the US in 2026 and later in Japan and Europe in the future. The preorders are expected to begin in 2025.
Some of the ideas which have been proposed for the Honda-Sony car is the possibility of integrating a PS5 to play games and entertain. As per Yasuhide Mizuno who is director of Sony Honda Mobility and senior director of Honda The idea was to “develop an automobile as a piece of hardware that caters for the gaming and entertainment entertainment we’d like to offer,” he said in an interview in the last quarter of last year.
In another way, Sony sees cars – and EVs specifically as an essential base for its future technology as well as entertainment offerings. It’s not willing to lease its software and hardware to automakers, or to design its operating system as Apple or Google. It would like to be involved in the development and design process, too. Making cars is extremely expensive and risky, especially for a company who has never tried it before. Look at Dyson. Simply because you create amazing non-car products doesn’t mean that the same capabilities will translate to the automotive market.
Of of course, Honda is developing its own line of EVs beginning with the Prologue that is being developed in conjunction in partnership with General Motors. The Prologue is expected to be available around 2024. It is Honda’s very first long-range EV specifically targeted for customers in the North American market. It is the first of the first wave of hybrid fuel cell vehicles powered by batteries that Honda claims it will launch before the close of this decade. Honda will utilize the GM Ultium platform to drive the Prologue and the not yet named 2024 Acura model that is based on the Precision concept, which was announced earlier in the year.
