Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida describes the features of the electric vehicle Afeela at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this month. (Source: Sony)

Afeela Will Send and Receive Information with Other EVs on the Road

You will see some amazing innovations this year in many of the high-tech marvels that are being upgraded. We are speaking today about EVs. Articles about electric vehicles usually come with the name Elon Musk in the same paragraph, but lots of other EVs coming out are bringing more excitement to the new car market.

This story from techcrunch.com says two major corporations, Sony and Honda, have come together to build an EV they are calling Afeela. Afeela? Really?

Well, the name isn’t what one might expect, but perhaps the vehicle itself will provide a new approach to transportation.

Nearly a year after the companies shared plans to jointly make and sell electric vehicles, they revealed a prototype under the brand name Afeela. The four-door sedan was driven onstage at CES Wednesday as Kenichiro Yoshida, the CEO of Sony, talked through the company’s mobility philosophy, which prioritizes building vehicles that have autonomous capabilities and are transformed into “moving entertainment space[s].”

The first preorders of the Afeelas are scheduled for the first half of 2025, with sales to begin the same year, said Yoshida. Initial shipments will be delivered to customers in North America in the spring of 2026.

Interesting Innovations

The duo companies have indicated they will build Afeela in North America with a Level 3 automated driving program. However, their autonomous system enables the car to drive in situations like traffic jams, but the human driver must take over when the system requests it.

The prototype is also equipped with 45 cameras and sensors inside and outside the vehicle in order to ensure safety and security, said Yoshida. The in-cabin sensors will monitor the driver’s status in order to prevent accidents.

Afeela will also feature best-in-class entertainment for customers, said Yoshida. The Sony-Honda JV will integrate Epics Games’ Unreal Engine, a 3D computer graphics game engine, into their vehicles to help visualize not only entertainment in cars but also communication and safety.

Many of us still see vehicles as transportation and not as entertainment centers. But times and technology change and these changes will help keep occupants connected to their digital life.

“In addition to movies, games, and music, we envision a new in-cabin experience using our expertise of UX and the UI technologies,” said Yoshida.

In order to handle all the computing needed for automated driving and advanced driver assistance system capabilities, car telematics, and what we expect to be a tricked-out infotainment system, Afeela cars will be built around Qualcomm’s system-on-a-chip technology, including their Snapdragon digital chassis.

Is it too much? Perhaps the solo driver on his or her way to work won’t need to be so entertained? Time will tell.

read more at techcrunch.com