Sony Honda Mobility has once again brought its first electric vehicle offering, Afeela, at CES after showcasing it at the same event in the past four years. However, this year’s press conference revolved around Sony’s software plans for the model.
What’s more interesting about its latest appearance at CES was its entry onto the stage. Sony Honda Mobility President and COO Izumi Kawanishi has just employed a Playstation 5 controller to drive the closer-to-production version of the model in front of the crowd at the highly awaited event.
What’s currently known about the Afeela EV?
Sony Honda Mobility’s Afeela is an all-electric sedan co-developed by Japanese players Sony and Honda. It will reportedly become available sometime in 2026
The joint venture originally set the concept car to feature a 400kW (536 horsepower) dual-motor all-wheel-drive. It can also apparently accelerate from 0-100km/h in 4.8 seconds. It also boasts a top speed of 240km/h.
As of now, it seems that Sony still aims to have these key specifications for the Afeela EV.
Unfortunately, driving the Afeela with a PS5 controller is not a real feature of the Afeela EV but only a tech demo.
Sony’s focus on software
Sony leverages its electronics expertise to refine Afeela’s sensing and infotainment systems. The model will apparently come with a wide range of sensors to enable autonomous driving technology.
Inside, Sony aims to improve the EV’s infotainment to offer better customer entertainment. It also plans to release constant over-the-air (OTA) software updates to ensure all units are up to date with the latest technologies.
Some interior photos revealed large displays in both the front and back seats, hinting at a potential integration of PS5-level gaming performance.
Production and availability
Sony Honda Mobility plans to officially open order books for the all-new Afeela EV in 2025. In the same year, it will also start the model’s production.
Customer deliveries in North America are set to kick off by early 2026, as per Motor1.
Despite not having the PS5 controller summon capability in the production version of the Afeela concept, it significantly highlights the growing adoption of software-defined cars.
Enabling the software to have deep control of car functions will support fast OTA updates to improve the vehicles over time. Unfortunately, Sony did not reveal any new details about the Afeela EV’s pricing and battery upon ending the press conference. We can expect to learn more about these key details in the coming months near its market launch in 2026.
