Three years after showing his first concept car, sony has unveiled its brand of electric cars and a prototype that foreshadows the first model. Sony Honda Mobility (SHM)the company formed by the giants of consumer electronics and automobiles, will create a brand called Afeela to sell its electric cars.
The large consumer electronics firms have seen a new business opportunity in the electric car. Dyson, Xiaomi, Manzana either sony They have set out to launch an electric car on the market.
While Dyson gave up on the way, Xiaomi go ahead and Manzana play clueless, sony has presented its first prototype of the Afeela at the Consumer Electronics Show, CESof Las Vegas.
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“Afeela represents our concept of an interactive relationship in which people feel the sensation of interactive mobility and in which mobility can sense and understand people and society through the use of sensing technologies and artificial intelligence”stated Yasuhide MizunoCEO of Sony Honda Mobility.
Neither Honda nor Sony have given details about the battery or the motors. However, the car is known to have four-wheel drive.
The Afeela logo appeared on a narrow screen or “media bar” located on the front of the vehicle, which can also interact and share information with outsiders or passers-by, such as the weather or the state of charge of the car, as demonstrated on stage. Another thing is that whoever is crossing at that moment considers it relevant to know the state of charge of the car while you are stopped at the traffic light.
The Afeela looks quite different from previous Sony concept cars, apart from the satin gray paint. Its silhouette is very refined and minimalist, with as few folds, curves or lines as possible.
The front and rear light clusters have been stripped down to seemingly basic bars. The car has lost in personality compared to previous concept cars. If anything, it looks extremely aerodynamic.
It is also a large sedan. It measures 4.89 m long, with a 3-meter wheelbase that should provide good habitability. It measures 1.90 m wide and 1.46 m high. To get an idea, it is almost 5 cm shorter than a Mercedes EQE and almost 5 cm longer than a Hyundai Ioniq 6.
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The interior is as minimalist as the exterior. The Afeela does not get rid of the fashion of an aviation-type steering wheel nor does it use a block of screens as a dashboard, which includes the rear-view mirror screens. It’s also no surprise given that the Honda e also has an interior full of screens.
The rear seats have individual screens, of course. Sony emphasizes on offering all kinds of entertainment to the passengers. He did not mention anything about installing a PlayStation in the car, but he does mention that he is collaborating with Epic Games in the development of entertainment options.
What is known is that, at the software level, it will use Qualcommincluding the so-called Snapdragon Digital Chassis, while the graphics technology is carried out by Unreal Engine, designing the car’s interfaces.
The interior is as minimalist as the exterior
The car also has 45 cameras and sensors in total distributed between the interior and exterior of the car. They will serve in the security systems of the Afeela, and whose development is currently in charge of Honda.
Sony ensures that the car will be able to reach Level 3 autonomous driving in some situations. Not surprisingly, Honda has been the first brand to commercially propose a car with Level 3 autonomous driving, although for now, only in Japan.
The car has 45 cameras and sensors in total distributed between the interior and exterior of the car
Neither Honda nor Sony have given details about the battery or the motors. However, the car is known to have four wheel drive and presumably it uses the usual arrangement of two electric motors, one on each axis, to achieve that all-wheel drive.
Looking at the specs, the car has wider rear tires than the fronts (245/40 R 21 at the front and 275/35 R 21 at the rear), so we’d bet the rear axle has priority over the front. The front suspension is double wishbone and the rear is independent multilink. Some schemes that would provide the car with a high degree of dynamism.
The Afeela looks quite different from previous Sony concept cars, aside from the satin gray paint.
The Afeela will be sold mainly onlinebut you will have to be patient. Pre-orders will open in the first half of 2025, with firm orders to follow by the end of that year.
The first deliveries to customers will be made in 2026being the first to receive his car the Americans, since Afeela will be built at a Honda factory in North America still to be determined.
With information from Motorpassion
