The joint venture between Sony and Honda has revealed the new electric vehicle (EV) they will be producing together will be called AFEELA. Sony Honda Mobility Inc. (SHM) made the reveal at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Representative Director, Chairman and CEO Yasuhide Mizuno and Representative Director, President and COO Izumi Kawanishi announced the company’s establishment at the event.
During the presentation, a prototype vehicle with the new Afeela logo was brought on stage that looked similar to the Vision-S concept we brought you news of back in June. A video showcasing the new Afeela can be seen below:
SHM announced its new brand AFEELA represents ‘feel’ which is at the centre of the mobility experience in the new car. During the announcement, SHM explained the prototype expresses its vision of creating a new relationship between people and mobility. SHM said the design of the prototype aims to create new value standards for mobility.
Exterior
The exterior has simple minimal decorative lines and form. The round motif is said to encapsulate technology which evokes a feeling of a new mobility experience
and embodies an embracing feel of a new ideal mobility.
The production model will feature a total of 45 cameras and sensors inside and outside that constantly monitor 360-degrees. This enables natural driving control for safe and secure mobility.
One of the neat new features is the built-in display in the front bumper, known as the ‘Media Bar’, that can offer information to other drivers and pedestrians. During the reveal, SHM demonstrated various themes including an advert for Spiderman: No Way Home.
Interior
The interior is clean looking based on a pure and gentle rounded atmosphere that embraces the occupants in a soft cocoon-like space. It mixes comfort with simplicity and minimises any distracting ornamentation and colours. It’s a human-centric space that merges necessary functionality with desired experience.
A glass roof helps to bring light and openness into the space and along with the layout of in-cabin space and seats provides ample room for comfort. Sony Honda Mobility has also used low environmental impact materials for the interior components and textiles, as well as the unique fabric that purifies the air.
A panoramic screen spans the entire front area and the steering has been uniquely designed to minimise the distraction of the screen. It features intuitive button operation that enables instantaneous visual recognition of crucial driving information such as the driver interface.
SHM say the new Afeela with have value-added concepts based on 3A’s; autonomy, augmentation and Affinity:
Autonomy
- Provide a pleasant mobility space founded on safe and secure technologies.
- SHM aims to develop Level 3 automated drive under limited conditions and to enable Level 2+ driver assistance in even more situations such as urban driving.
- SHM plan to use the SoCs from Qualcomm Snapdragon Digital Chassis for 800 TOPS maximum computing performance as hardware.
- The prototype is equipped with a total of 45 cameras and sensors inside and outside the vehicle. In-car cameras and Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensors detect the driver and car’s situation to help avoid accidents.
Augmentation
- A new HMI will be introduced, providing a personalised in-car experience through cloud-service connectivity, realising entertainment beyond driving.
- SHM aims to evolve mobility space into entertainment and emotional space by seamlessly integrating real and virtual worlds, and exploring new entertainment possibilities through digital innovations such as the metaverse. SHM has started to build new values and concepts for mobility with Epic Games.
- SHM aims to provide intuitive navigation through augmented reality (AR) using our sensing technology.
Affinity
- SHM will build an open community for not only customers, but our automotive industry partners, leading players in other industries, and the creative community which will take on the challenge with us to create new mobility entertainment.
As a Mobility Tech Company, SHM will be connecting inspirations and challenging the forefront of cutting-edge technology, SHM plans to revolutionise mobility that appeals to people’s emotions and behaviours.
SHM will develop the production model based on this prototype and plans to start taking pre-orders in the first half of 2025. It will commence sales by the end of 2025 and begin delivery from spring 2026 in North America.
