Afeela, the new high-tech auto brand launched by Sony Honda Mobility, rolled out a “prototype” of a new crossover expected to reach market in 2028, while also providing more details about the belated launch of its original Afeela 1 sedan. Headlight.News has more on the high-tech brand’s plans from the CES 2026.
The Sony Honda Mobility Afeela 1 will finally go on sale late this year.
With its first all-electric sedan finally set to go on sale this year, Sony Honda Mobility showed off a prototype of a larger, family-oriented crossover — set to reach market in 2028 – during a well-attended news conference at the Consumer Electronics Show Monday evening.
Like the initial Afeela 1, the 2026 Afeela Prototype is designed to be a living room on wheels, with occupants able to stream video and even plug into the PlayStation 5 mobile gaming network. A clear hint of what’s to come two years from now, the new show car is larger and more SUV-like than the original EV, offering more room for family buyers, explained Shugo Yamaguchi, the CEO of Sony Honda Mobility of America.
The question is whether there’s a market for the Afeela brand, especially at a time when EV sales have plateaued and are expected to slide this year. The new brand has clearly pared back its initial expectations, Afeela 1 set to go on sale exclusively in California this year, with the automaker planning to add Arizona in 2027. For his part, Yamaguchi told Headlight.News the deep-pocketed Sony/Honda partnership “is okay with being very niche,”
A long road to market
Afeela 1 and Kawanishi.
Japanese consumer electronics giant Sony first revealed its interest in entering the automotive market during a CES news conference in 2020. Two years later it announced a partnership with Honda.
Each company is focused on what it does best, Honda developing the underlying vehicle platform and borrowing the all-electric drivetrain that also will power its new 0 Series models set to debut later this year. Sony is developing the high-tech, AI-powered features which, it believes, will justify Afeela 1’s roughly $90,000 price tag.
The first of the sedans are just starting to roll down the Honda assembly line in East Liberty, Ohio and SHM is now taking advance reservations. But deliveries aren’t expected to begin until “late 2026,” the start-up said during its CES presentation, nearly a year after originally planned.
Sony goes niche
Afeela’s U.S. CEO Yamaguchi says the brand is happy to stay “niche.”
For a mass market brand, Sony – and partner Honda – has relatively modest aspirations for Afeela. Of course, that should come as no surprise considering what has happened in the U.S. EV market over the past year. Since returning to office last January, Pres. Donald Trump has taken a decidedly anti-electric stand, reversing fuel economy standards favoring battery-powered vehicles, blocking the use of funds set aside by the administration for a nationwide EV charging network and, in September, ending federal tax credits for EV buyers.
Because of its price tag, the Afeela 1 wouldn’t have qualified for those incentives but Trump tariffs will have “some impact” on the cost of producing the EV, acknowledged Yamaguchi. Even though it’s assembled in the U.S. it still relies on some foreign-made parts and materials.
But it’s the broader market pullback from EVs that creates a potential headache for Sony Honda Mobility. The U.S. is the primary market for the new brand, Yamaguchi said during a media roundtable. And that made plenty of sense when the Afeela project was getting underway. Between 2019 and 2023, EV sales surged eightfold – reaching about 8% of the American market. But demand has gone flat and is widely expected to fall this year, according to researchers like AutoPacific. Add to that, growing pushback in all sectors of the market to record vehicle prices.
Nonetheless, SHM officials don’t seem particularly worried. “We’re okay with being very niche and having lower volumes” than planners originally expected for the Afeela project, said Yamaguchi.
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Afeela Prototype 2026
The larger Afeela Prototype 2026.
Critics also question SHM’s decision to launch the Afeela brand with a sedan considering demand for four-door models has tumbled sharply over the past decade, buyers largely shifting to SUVs and CUVs.
That’s where the Afeela Prototype 2026 could come to the rescue. Making its debut at CES Monday, it’s a thinly disguised version of what’s expected to become the start-up’s second model line, indicated Yasuhide Mizuno, Afeela’s global president and CEO. Not quite a classic SUV/CUV, it bears a strong resemblance to the Toyota Crown Signia, and is more of a tall five-door design.
“Our journey has only just begun,” he said during the show car’s reveal, adding that a production version will reach market “as early as 2028.”
Shared technology
Afeela 1’s pillar-to-pillar display.
While it will be larger and roomier – better suited to families than the compact Afeela 1, the next EV will have a lot in common with the model going on sale this year. “It’s no longer about driving,” said Izumi Kawanishi, chief operation officer of Sony Honda Mobility of America. “It’s about how you use your time on the road.”
And Sony, in particular, wants Afeela occupants to spend their time making use of the array of high-tech features that will define both vehicles. That includes an array of digital displays stretching pillar-to-pillar across the instrument panel, with additional displays for rear seat passengers.
The cabin will feature a “conversational agent,” Sony-speak for an AI-powered voice assistant, and will make it easy to stream content from the parent’s extensive library of films and videos. Using Qualcomm-supplied technology, meanwhile, Afeela 1 is set to become the first vehicle that can directly tie into the PlayStation Portal, giving mobile access to the system’s extensive game collection.
Autonomy
An Afeela prototype. Production has begun at the Honda assembly plant in E. Liberty, Ohio.
Sony Honda Mobility is by no means the only automaker looking to turn its cabin into a mobile lounge – though, by tapping into Sony’s entertainment arm it could generate a significant, ongoing revenue stream beyond what buyers will pay up front for the vehicle itself.
One piece is missing, however. To fully tap into the potential of Afeela’s onboard entertainment system will require adding autonomous driving capabilities to its vehicles. “We’re targeting Level 4,” said Yamaguchi, which translates into the ability for the vehicle to drive completely on its own, without any driver intervention.
Don’t expect that at launch. Initially, Afeela 1 will offer much more modest “Level 2+” autonomy. This is similar to the General Motors Super Cruise system, meaning a motorist will be able to take hands off the wheel but must still keep eyes on the road, ready to retake control in an emergency. The next step will be Level 3, so-called “hands-free/eyes-off” technology. This would, indeed, allow a driver to watch videos or play games, though they’ll still need to be ready to retake control quickly.
The good news, noted Yamaguchi, is that Afeela 1 will debut with more than 40 sensors, including cameras, radar and a more advanced Lidar system. Still, there is “no timing” for upgrading the EV’s capabilities to Level 3 or 4, he acknowledged.
More to come?
Don’t expect an Afeela Robotaxi. No plan to compete there with Tesla, said Yamaguchi.
Until now, SMH officials have been reluctant to discuss hardware details when it comes to Afeela 1 Yamaguchi did open up a bit during his roundtable, noting that the EV is expected to deliver at least 300 miles range out of a 91-kWh lithium-ion battery, with the underlying drivetrain shared with upcoming Honda 0 Series products. The initial drivetrain is expected to produce 483 horsepower out of twin motors, one on each axle. We’ll have to wait for details on the production version of the Afeela Prototype 2026.
The initial model’s $90,000 price tag puts it in luxury territory, with competition including the Tesla Model S. The CES show car would be more akin to the Tesla Model X. Yamaguchi downplayed the possibility of adding more mainstream products that could target the likes of the Tesla Model 3 and Y.
Notably, the executive left open the possibility it might consider developing a hybrid or extended-range model in the future, though he said SHM’s fundamental concept is based around fully electric vehicles.
Yamaguchi also said that Sony Honda Mobility is “not looking at” launching a robotaxi model, unlike Tesla or Lucid, the latter brand announcing a robotaxi program at CES this week. “It’s not in our purview,” said the SHM executive.
$90,000 guarantees a failure.