Sony Honda Mobility (SHM) is a collaboration between Sony and Honda, and they unveiled their electric car brand named Afeela at CES in 2023. This year, at another event, they showcased the car by driving it onto the stage using a PlayStation 5 controller.
Unlike other companies mainly focusing on making electric cars powerful and with a long range, Sony and Honda see this shift to electric vehicles as an opportunity to change how we travel.
They established SHM in September 2022 to combine Sony’s technology and Honda’s expertise in mobility, aiming to become a “Mobility Tech company.” The cars they produce are called Afeela.
Afeela is a prototype of a four-door sedan, stemming from Sony’s Vision S revealed a few years ago. It comes equipped with various sensors and cameras to help the car understand its surroundings and assist the driver.
Although SHM isn’t aiming to make the car fully autonomous anytime soon, they have a smart system called AI Vision Transformer that provides driving assistance in different conditions.
Inside the car, they designed it to minimize distractions, allowing passengers to enjoy entertainment like watching shows, playing games, or listening to music while on the move.
It’s not just a car; it’s like a moving entertainment space. At CES 2024, SHM shared some updates. They’re collaborating with Epic Games to use data from the car’s sensors to create an augmented reality (AR) map, improving safety.
They’re also partnering with Polyphony Digital to make the car experience feel like a blend of reality and virtual, similar to popular video games.
They’re teaming up with Microsoft to develop a personal assistant for Afeela. Moreover, they’re providing opportunities for developers to create applications and services for the car.
SHM plans to start accepting orders for the Afeela in 2025 and aims to deliver the first cars in the US by spring 2026. It’s an exciting development in the world of electric vehicles!
