Bojan Vrbnjak
At first glance, this sounds like an unlikely collaboration. Sony and Honda they became partners at the beginning of the year 2022, when the two Japanese giants announced a business collaboration. Since then, they have started a new company with a simple name Sony Honda Mobility, and their first car is afeela.
Electric car was baptized at last year's consumer electronics fair in Las Vegas. It is on display at CES 2024 almost production version. It may not have the most interesting name, but it is for Sony Honda Mobility the name Afeela looks interesting.
Elegant electric limousine it now has traditional exterior mirrors instead of cameras and a slightly modified front bumper with a spoiler. Headlights, which are moved far back, are more curved than before, and the pillars look thicker than last year's prototype. It is added on the back above the license plate black decorative tape, and a new element protrudes from the bumper.
Interior of the Sony Honda Afeel
afeela, which was originally presented as a concept vision S at the fair CES 2020, underwent additional changes in the interior. In the cabin with many screens they are now a different rear view mirror, a subtly redesigned steering wheel in the form of a yoke and two wireless smartphone chargers. It is also installed on the dashboard camera, which monitors what the driver is doing.
In terms of technical data, it has afeela system with two engines, which enables four-wheel drive. The front and rear motors are each transmitted to their own axles 241 BAM (180 kilowatts), and they draw energy from 91 kWh lithium-ion battery. The battery can be charged with a direct current of power up to 150 kW, while the alternating current power will be maximum 11 kW. Afeela drives on 21-inch wheels with tires 245 / 40 R21 front and 275 / 35 R22 rear and has air suspension with double wishbones in the front and multi-link in the rear. The futuristically designed EV is long 4.915 mm, wide 1.900 mm and high 1.460 mm, with a large distance between them 3.000 mm. So it's slightly shorter, narrower and taller than Tesla's Model S.
Sony Honda Mobility will open orders for years 2025, when production is expected to start. Deliveries to customers in North America are planned in the beginning of 2026. In the meantime, you can afeela drive in a video game Gran Turismo 7, which will be released this year with a future update. The 2024 prototype was on the stage of the fair CES brought by remote control with controller PlayStation DualSense, as you can see in the video below.
