- Olga Kokorina
- Translated by Olga Apetenok
- Ru Fr Ar He
Afeela. Creation of two great Japanese companies
At the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Sony announced its intentions to build cars. The company even presented the prototype of their first car, the Sony Vision-S electric sedan, to prove the seriousness of the plans. A year later, the concept car of the future Vision-S 02 SUV appeared. Finally, in the spring of 2022, Sony established a joint venture with Honda. And at the 2023 CES, the Japanese have already presented their third trial balloon, an electric car under their own brand Afeela. The name refers to the English word ‘feel’. A new electric vehicle brand, the creation of two great Japanese companies, plans to release luxury electric models, and even the motto of an ambitious startup sound pompous: ‘Mobility that can feel people and society with the help of new technologies’. The only unusual thing is that the newborn brand is not Chinese, but Japanese…
Orders for the first Afeela model will start being accepted in the first half of 2025, with sales of commercial vehicles in North America scheduled for spring 2026.
Brand’s mission
Honda and Sony have equal shares in Afeela: Honda is responsible for the development, production and further maintenance of the vehicles, while Sony supplies electronics and mobility technologies. Therefore, the third model, started by Sony, was already being created by Honda engineers. The famous company Magna Steyr (Austria) participated in the creation of the first two prototypes.
‘Mobility that can feel people and society with the help of new technologies’
The brand created by Sony intends to sell its cars in the US and in Japan. Production will be carried out at the facilities of one of Honda’s American plants. Afeela is expected to become an expensive brand, competing in a segment dominated by Tesla and electric models from Mercedes-Benz and BMW.
The first fruit
The new electric liftback under the Afeela brand does not even have a name yet. It is known that the car is all-wheel drive, which is provided by two electric motors. The chassis of the model makes you feel the familiar style of the creators: a double wishbone front suspension and a multi-link rear suspension. The model is 4,895 mm long, 1,900 mm wide and 1,460 mm high, while the wheelbase reaches 3,000 mm. The car will come with 21-inch wheels. The model is expected to have the level 3 autopilot, which works due to 45 sensors and cameras (including the lidar on the roof, which is common for today’s vehicles).
Of special note is an interactive display Media Bar, located between the headlights, responsible for a weather forecast, an indication of the level of charge or an advertisement for a Sony movie. The liftback features numerous screens that shine across the entire width of the passenger compartment. In addition, the new Afeela liftback will receive a ‘ship’s wheel’ instead of a round steering wheel and an augmented reality projection display.
