The upcoming AFEELA EV, a joint effort between Sony and Honda, is now obtainable 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 quite a lot of developments and a partnership with Honda, Sony is now promising that the car might be obtainable subsequent 12 months – in California, no less than. It lately began taking $200 reservations, although these are restricted to California solely in the meanwhile.
Prematurely of this launch, Sony Honda Mobility (SHM) is now displaying the automobile to the general public, in what has grow to be a preferred technique 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 could be the most well-liked – Century Metropolis, a neighborhood of Los Angeles with a protracted historical past of attachment to the film business, 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 subsequent 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 short lived sales space moderately than a devoted retailer house. It was filled with fairly a number of neat options, however there was nonetheless quite a lot of work to be completed.
As a reminder, SHM lately introduced a $90k base worth for the AFEELA, although left the door open for added subscription charges for some options after an preliminary 3-year interval. The primary obtainable trim degree, the AFEELA 1 Signature, will begin at $103k.
So, for those who’d wish 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 slightly pie-in-the-sky initially after they introduced the idea, yearly they’ve refined it and have largely evaded 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 current 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 need to see precisely the place issues go from right here.
There does nonetheless appear to be quite a lot of work to do over the course of the subsequent 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 obtainable within the US. Toyota has the bZ4X (and its companion 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 recognized for its client leisure merchandise goes to leap into the pack with the remainder of its nation’s auto business – by constructing a ground-up EV earlier than a few of its countrymen did so.
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