The joint venture between Sony and Honda has shown off its EV model during Sony's presentation at CES 2023 in Las Vegas. The Sony Honda Mobility EV is called Afeela and was shown off with the capability of passengers being able to play Horizon Forbidden West.
The Afeela is packed with tech. The EV will include over 40 sensors, including cameras, radar, ultrasonic, lidar, which should enable the electric car to drive autonomously. Sony showed off its prototype on the CES 2023 keynote stage and showed off screens of Horizon Forbidden West playing on displays in front of the car's backseats. A Spider-Man theme was also briefly shown during the presentation.
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Izumi Kawanishi, the president of Sony Honda Mobility, has previously spoken of wanting to compete with the likes of Tesla and embracing the strengths Sony is known for, such as in entertainment, and has said that incorporating the PS5 platform into their cars was "technologically possible".
Speaking to the Financial Times in November, Kawanishi said Sony-Honda wants to put content first but that "to enjoy the space in your car, you have to make it a space where you don't need to drive." He said autonomous driving is the solution to this problem.
Meanwhile, on stage this week, Sony Honda Mobility CEO Yasuhide Mizuno said that the car would utilise Sony's experience in AI, entertainment, virtual reality, and augmented reality for a unique EV (via The Verge). "Afeela represents our concept of an interactive relationship where people feel the sensation of interactive mobility and where mobility can detect and understand people and society by utilising sensing and AI technologies," Mizuno said.
The Afeela will be priced in the premium range and will compete with EVs from the likes of BMW, Volvo, and Audi. Sony has said that it'll offer subscription services for its car so owners will likely need to pay monthly fees to access all the features available in the software.
Analysts have previously said that Sony is looking to show off its wares to larger EV players, and by building a smaller but premium brand it can showcase its services and content offerings that could attract larger car makers.
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