Sony, the Japanese electronics and media conglomerate, has emerged as the tech behemoth that, with their new brand “Afeela,” may have figured out how to make the rubber meet the road. The company has partnered with Honda to produce a new electric vehicle (EV) starting in 2026, most likely at Honda’s US facilities to take advantage of new EV tax credit rules.
The joint venture, called Sony Honda Mobility, will rely heavily on subscription features and Sony’s own vast library of video games and media properties for in-car entertainment under the brand Afeela.
These services will be available while drivers and passengers wait for the EV to charge or when autonomous vehicle features are activated. Yasuhide Mizuno, the venture’s CEO, has stated that it is aiming for lease deals of up to ten years, which is much longer than most cars are owned today, and that this will be supported by frequent over-the-air software updates and feature additions.
The latest prototype from Sony is a sleek EV sedan with dashboard screens that span the width of the vehicle, 45 sensors and cameras for semi-autonomous driving assistance, all-wheel drive, and hints of augmented reality integration and “virtual worlds” embedded in the driving experience. With Honda’s manufacturing expertise, this could open up a whole new market and multiple revenue streams for Sony, which already has a strong presence in entertainment media and the devices that allow us to consume it.
At CES, Afeela’s launch party felt more like Sony’s than Honda’s. Sony handled the car’s communications, dealt with journalists, and debuted it as part of a larger keynote presentation that included a teaser for Neill Blomkamp’s Gran Turismo film and accessibility-focused game controllers for people with mobility challenges.
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