Japan’s Sony Corporation and Honda Motor Company recently wowed car enthusiasts worldwide. This week, Sony revealed a prototype of the new “Afeela” electric vehicles that it will build in collaboration with Honda, TechCrunch reported.
The companies are saying they would harness its vast entertainment content as it looks to become a major player in next-generation vehicles.
Afeela
Sony showed a glimpse of Afeela, which features rounded corners and a sleek back roof, at the CES 2023 technology trade show that recently concluded in Las Vegas. This electric vehicle (EV) will use technology from hardware maker Qualcomm, including its “Snapdragon” digital chassis.
Sony’s long-awaited push into EVs, which it announced as a venture together with Honda last March, shows how manufacturers are increasingly focused on cars’ cockpit experience, offering the potential to sell content through subscription services cars, especially since autonomous driving capabilities are moving forward.
Yasuhide Mizuno, Sony Honda Mobility chief executive, said during the trade show, “In order to realize intelligent mobility, continuous software updates and high-performance computing are required. To that end, we will work closely with Qualcomm.”
Also recently, Qualcomm unveiled a new processor, the Snapdragon Ride Flex SoC, that takes charge of both assisted driving and cockpit functions, as well as entertainment. Previously, those functions were managed on different chips. Bringing them together could help reduce costs, according to a Qualcomm executive.
Meanwhile, Sony is eyeing harnessing its traditional strengths in sensors. Afeela will be furnished with over 40 sensors, according to Mizuno. The car will utilize the “Unreal Engine” 3D creation tool from Epic Games, the company behind the popular game “Fortnite.”
As for Honda, this venture and collaboration with Sony may let it speed up what has so far been a slow treatment for electric. The Japanese company has also struggled over the years in the arena of luxury vehicles with its Acura brand. According to this collaboration, this new EV will be priced at a premium.
This new venture between Sony and Honda aims to deliver its first EVs by early 2026 across North America.
Mixed reactions
We decided to take a look at what netizens say about this launch. The reactions are mixed.
“Wow amazing. Tesla is toast,” wrote easy education on YouTube.
Meanwhile, netizen floor man suggested they should “put a video game console in it.”
On the other hand, many netizens interestingly noticed Afeela looks like Lucid Air from Lucid Motors.
“Why does it look like a Walmart lucid air,” Md. Omar Ibnul Faiyaz indicated in the comments section.
The reactions of netizens on Twitter are also quite fascinating.
“Turns out you will be able to play PS5 games in Sony Honda Mobility Afeela EV… Gran Turismo taken to the next level??? #CES2023” wrote Linus Tech Tips.
