Sony Honda SUV, Compact Will Follow 2025 Afeela Sedan: Report
All three vehicles will be built on a version of Honda’s 0 Series EV platform.
In case you haven't heard, Sony (yes, that Sony) is teaming up with Honda to build electric cars under the brand name Afeela. We already knew about the electric sedan due out in 2025, but a new report says the company will have two additional vehicles before the decade ends.
Per Nikkei, there will be an Afeela SUV in 2027 followed by an "affordable" compact car sometime between 2028 and 2030. The report also says Sony Honda Mobility has plans to double its headcount to about 500 employees.
All three vehicles are said to be built on the same chassis, which is a tweaked version of Honda's new 0 Series platform. Speaking of, Honda's own 0 Series EV based on its Saloon concept is set to come to production in 2026, after the Sony sedan but before the Sony SUV.
As one might expect from a company known for TVs and game consoles, the Afeela cars are set to go hard on the tech front. Sony has previously shown off heavy augmented reality implementation and promised Level 3 automated driving. Sony is also taking advantage of its expert resource in Gran Turismo developer Polyphony Digital, and the game-makers plan to contribute to Afeela car development albeit in yet-to-be-specified capacities.
I checked out the Afeela sedan in person briefly at this year's Consumer Electronics Show. While the car you see in these pictures is indeed still a prototype, its techboi-catering ways were on full display, pun completely intended. Peep the dashboard spanning screen and the PlayStation controller in the center console. And, yes, that is an additional screen in between the headlights displaying an ad for Fortnite. Shortly after I took that picture, the image changed to promote anime streaming service Crunchyroll.
Will all of this stuff make it to the production Afeelas? Too early to tell, but based on the company's reported plans, we won't have too much longer to wait.
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