Sony Honda Mobility, the electric vehicle joint venture between Sony Group and Honda Motor, is moving closer to commercial launch as it presents a pre-production version of its Afeela 1 electric sedan alongside an early-stage electric SUV prototype, underscoring its ambitions in the premium EV segment.
The company, formed in 2022, is using the latest showcase to demonstrate progress from concept to near-production. The Afeela 1, first shown as a prototype in 2023, was formally named and priced at $89,990 last year. The current pre-production version is intended to signal that the model is approaching market readiness.
Deliveries of the battery-electric sedan are expected to begin later this year in California, followed by Arizona in 2025. A Japan launch is planned for the first half of 2027, the company has said.
Sony Honda Mobility said the initial rollout reflects both regulatory considerations and the car’s technology focus. The Afeela 1 is designed around advanced driver assistance and future automated driving capabilities, using a sensor suite that includes cameras, radar, LiDAR and ultrasonic sensors, supported by a high-performance Qualcomm computing platform. Some advanced features are expected to be offered via subscription.
The company is continuing to develop its Afeela Intelligent Drive system, expanding it toward a broader artificial intelligence architecture that incorporates vision-language models. Building on Level 2+ driver assistance, the long-term goal is to progress toward higher levels of automation.
As part of its manufacturing preparations, Sony Honda Mobility conducted test production runs of the Afeela 1 last autumn at a Honda facility in Ohio, marking a key step toward series production.
Alongside the sedan, the joint venture also unveiled an electric SUV concept, referred to as the Afeela Prototype 2026. While technical details have not yet been disclosed, the company said the model is intended to extend the Afeela design language into a more spacious and versatile format, with a potential U.S. market launch targeted for 2028.
“With this step, we want to show that Afeela is moving from vision to reality,” the company said previously when outlining its roadmap, positioning the brand as a blend of mobility, software and entertainment technologies.