The upcoming AFEELA EV, a joint effort between Sony and Honda, is now accessible for viewing to the general public in Los Angeles, upfront of its scheduled California launch in 2026.
We first heard about Sony’s upcoming EV again at CES 2020, the place the corporate introduced a shock EV idea which, frankly, we by no means thought would occur.
Quick ahead to now, and after numerous developments and a partnership with Honda, Sony is now promising that the car might be accessible subsequent 12 months – in California, at the very least. It just lately began taking $200 reservations, although these are restricted to California solely in the intervening time.
Upfront of this launch, Sony Honda Mobility (SHM) is now exhibiting the automobile to the general public, in what has turn out to be a preferred methodology for EV makers (ever since Tesla and George Blankenship pioneered it): opening a mall retailer.
That retailer is correct within the coronary heart of the place the AFEELA EV is likely to be the preferred – Century Metropolis, a neighborhood of Los Angeles with a protracted historical past of attachment to the film trade, on the Westfield Century Metropolis mall on Santa Monica Blvd.
The storefront opened to the general public this weekend, and might be open for the following six months (till August 1). The general public can come round at any time and take a look on the car and ask questions, or can e-book a demo of the automobile’s inside and applied sciences (however no check drives but, although).
We beforehand had an opportunity to get arms on with the AFEELA prototype on the similar mall, although that was at a brief sales space reasonably than a devoted retailer area. It was filled with fairly a couple of neat options, however there was nonetheless numerous work to be completed.
As a reminder, SHM just lately introduced a $90k base worth for the AFEELA, although left the door open for extra subscription charges for some options after an preliminary 3-year interval. The primary accessible trim degree, the AFEELA 1 Signature, will begin at $103k.
So, for those who’d prefer to test it out for your self and are in Southern California, you may head on over any time, or e-book a time slot upfront for an in-car demonstration.
Electrek’s Take
I’ve been impressed with the maturity of the tempo of Sony’s bulletins with this car. Whereas it appeared just a little pie-in-the-sky initially after they introduced the idea, yearly they’ve refined it and have largely avoided making unrealistic guarantees or loopy timelines, not like another EV startups on the market.
That’s, till final 12 months, after they joined the AI buzzword bandwagon, which appeared like a complete waste of time. Plus, the latest announcement suggesting long-term subscription charges for function use was not nice to listen to – however that hasn’t been finalized but, so we’ll must see precisely the place issues go from right here.
There does nonetheless appear to be numerous work to do over the course of the following 12 months earlier than the AFEELA’s “mid-2026” launch, however issues do factor to be progressing at an affordable tempo
And, oddly sufficient, that is going to be one of many first Japanese EVs accessible within the US. Toyota has the bZ4X (and its accomplice the Subaru Solterra), Nissan has the Leaf and Ariya, and Honda has the Prologue – which is made in partnership with GM. In the meantime, an organization identified for its client leisure merchandise goes to leap into the pack with the remainder of its nation’s auto trade – by constructing a ground-up EV earlier than a few of its countrymen did so.
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