Afeela is starting to become a little bit more than just a feeling. The electric vehicle that’s a joint venture between Sony and Honda is finally available for preorder. And it only took five years to get here.
At its press conference at CES today, Sony Honda Mobility announced pricing and preorder details for Afeela. The vehicle will come in two trims: the $89,900 Afeela 1 Origin, and the $102,900 Afeela 1 Signature. That price includes a complimentary three-year subscription to a variety of in-car features, including the company’s Level 2+ driver assist and an AI-powered personal assistant. Pre-orders start today, and interested buyers can plunk down a refundable $200 deposit to get in line to buy one.
A lot has changed since Sony first rolled out its Vision concept in 2020: demand for EVs in the US spiked, then flatlined, and now has basically stabilized; the Biden administration rolled out generous incentives for EV buyers, but they’ll likely get eliminated by the incoming Trump administration; and China has emerged as the world’s dominant EV producer. That last fact has recently spurred Honda to initiate a merger with Nissan in the hopes of better competing with Chinese companies on EVs.
And now the Afeela, with its sleek sedan looks and plethora of interior touchscreens, is moving steadily closer to becoming a real car that you can really buy.
The latest prototype is a sleek EV sedan that looks like a mashup of a Tesla with the Lucid Air. It boasts screens across the width of the dashboard, 45 sensors and cameras for semi-autonomous driving assistance, all-wheel drive, and hints at augmented reality integration and “virtual worlds” embedded into the driving experience. As a result, Sony’s first foray into the automotive sector already appears designed to compete with some of the top players in the luxury EV space.
Sony Honda Mobility has also said it expects its software to offer subscription services, so vehicle owners will likely have to pay a monthly fee in order to access certain features, like streaming video.
The pre-order details aren’t all we’re getting from Sony Honda Mobility this week. Tomorrow, the company will hold another press conference to outline the customer experience of shopping for and owning an Afeela.
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