Sony Honda Mobility’s Afeela 1 is back on the show floor, and this time it seems genuinely road ready. The prototype that has returned has not been reinvented, just tightened in the critical areas. The result is a luxury electric sedan that plays to Sony’s strengths in entertainment and software while exhibiting the manners and maturity you’d want from a car crawling toward public roads.
A Cabin Made for Screens and Play, Built for Media
Inside the Afeela 1, screens come first, unapologetically. Spanning the dash is a panoramic display, which anchors a cabin built for media, apps and passenger engagement. It’s not a token infotainment redesign; it’s a living room on wheels with a UX that feels purpose built for long stretches of time spent inside the car.
PlayStation Remote Play is still the party trick. Using a DualSense controller and a PS5 at home, rear passengers will be able to stream games to built-in displays. The input in demos felt snappy and lag-free despite being used in an overcrowded wireless environment — promising for a feature that relies on the speed of your connection. It’s a classic Sony play: make the car more desirable by turning up the volume on the system it already knows you own.
Productivity hasn’t been ignored. Built-in support for video conferencing (picture Zoom-style calls) is essentially turning the car into an impromptu office. The cabin camera also seems to have a fairly wide framing, so that it captures the whole seating area instead of just a head-and-shoulders cocooned driver (great for grabbing attention — but possibly prompting some drivers to reach for even more privacy toggles. A balance Sony Honda Mobility isn’t going to take long figuring out).
Refinement Over Flash in Afeela 1’s Updated Prototype
This version isn’t so much about flashy new features as it is conveying a smoother experience. Screen changes are faster, apps switch more smoothly and the whole experience in the cabin is calmer and quieter. If last time felt like a cool tech demo, this one drives like something you could live with.
That polish is important in a category where the competition already provides confident software and theatrics. Both Mercedes’ Hyperscreen and BMW’s Theatre Screen teased the tone for big, cinematic interfaces. The connective tissue is gamers, media consumers and cloud services that people habitually use on a daily basis. Building on it is wiser than chasing gimmicks.
Driver Assistance and the Sensor Stack for Level 3
Below the glitz, however, the hardware story is sobering. Company presentations have emphasized a cluster of sensors — cameras, radar and lidar — that would approach the amount of redundancy needed for more advanced systems used in higher-level driver assistance. The target is consistent with SAE International’s Level 3 capability on some highways, including more traditional assistance in mixed traffic. Real-world deployment, as always, depends on validation and regulatory approval.
Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI services also power the in-car “Afeela” assistant, which is less a playful chatbot and more of a skilled orchestrator. It launches apps, tweaks settings and handles contextual commands without ceremony. That’s welcome restraint; dyed-in-the-wool drivers are inclined to value an assistant that performs a couple of useful tasks the first time, as opposed to delivering dazzling monologues.
On the compute side, Sony Honda Mobility is also sticking with tried-and-true chip and software partners — a strategy that rhymes with how the industry is coalescing around automotive-grade platforms. Look for over-the-air updates, tighter cloud service integration and visualization tech that picks up where Star Wars did in previous demos using Epic Games’ Unreal Engine.
Pricing and Positioning in a Crowded Field
Starting at $89,900, the Afeela 1’s well-appointed trims reach into six figures. That plants it firmly in the luxury EV bracket competing against the likes of the Tesla Model S, Mercedes EQE/EQS and Lucid Air. At this price, execution matters: software stability, noise isolation and service support will probably play as much a role in purchasing decisions as 0-to-60 sprints.
Sony Honda Mobility also teased an SUV-style prototype that mimics the sedan, with a tech brief describing it in a taller package. This is a multi-vehicle platform strategy, not a one-off science project. Honda’s discipline in manufacturing combined with Sony’s DNA and software/media might be a powerful formula if both brands are able to keep up after launch.
Why It Matters for Sony Honda Mobility’s Afeela 1
“Global electrification is heading in the right direction and despite this effort to throw it off course, we are likely to see a rapid pace of change nonetheless,” said BNEF transport analyst Nathalie Capati.
New EV sales have been growing at double-digit percentages in 2019, with estimates showing that they may soon come within reach of 1-in-10 new light-duty vehicles (cars and small trucks) sold globally, with already much higher levels in China. That momentum comes with new demands: customers want premium tech experiences without sacrificing day-to-day dependability. Afeela’s entertainment-first pitch is intriguing, but it’ll need to clear the same safety and durability bars as any car under the watchful eyes of bodies like NHTSA and Euro NCAP.
Today, the intent is what stands out. The Afeela 1 is not seeking a reinvention in the spotlight; rather, it’s been perfected for the road. By choosing stability over showmanship — and by focusing on actual strengths like gaming, media and partner-driven compute — Sony Honda Mobility seems closer than ever to actually releasing a luxury EV that feels both familiar and new.
