Whereas there’s loads of automotive information to go round at CES 2025, far and away, the discuss of the present is the Afeela 1. Once more. For 5 years now, Sony has been exhibiting off some variation on this similar theme, first because the in 2020, then the , earlier than adopting the unlucky rebranding to , and this 12 months lastly to Afeela 1.
Alongside the best way, the automobile misplaced what little fascinating styling it had whereas sticking true to some specs that sounded good 5 years in the past. Every little thing simply feels a bit off, not the least of which is its beginning value: .
I acquired an opportunity to rise up shut and contained in the automobile, a demo that started with one other clarification of what Afeela means. It is a kind of overwrought portmanteau for the phrases autonomy, augmentation, and affinity.
This 12 months’s Afeela 1 is little modified from final 12 months’s numberless present automobile. The one vital visible replace is discovered within the sensor pod protruding from the vanguard of the roof. A LiDAR module now stands proud, together with a few cameras on both finish, staring in reverse instructions, chameleon-style.
Whereas the bug-eyed look will not be significantly charming, it’s the solely little bit of visible character in an in any other case bland design. The lone different exterior speaking level is the show embedded in the vanguard of the hood. This “media bar” is one other factor that appeared novel and enjoyable a couple of years in the past on an idea automobile.
It is purported to welcome you to the automobile or present messages to these round you. However it’s onerous to learn from afar, and up shut you’ll be able to see the unlucky seam down the center the place two panels had been considerably crudely joined collectively to type the factor.
To open the motive force’s door, you both faucet a button within the app or press a small button embedded within the pillar. There are not any door handles to tug, not even a token fin like on the . I could not assist asking what do you do in case you park in an ice storm and the door is frozen shut. I wasn’t given a lot of a solution.
These doorways open to an area that is each bit as understated as the outside apart from one factor: the dashboard-spanning show. It is vibrant and clear and about the one factor in right here that jogged my memory that this can be a Sony product. Effectively, that and the DualSense controller which you could pair to the automobile after which hearth up PS Distant Play whilst you cost.
And you may want one thing to do as a result of the utmost cost charge of the Afeela 1 is 150 kW for its 91 kWh battery, which gives an estimated 300 miles of vary. Examine that to a less expensive Lucid Air, which might cost twice as shortly and canopy over 400 miles on a cost, and you start to see the true downside with this factor.
That show plus the ambient lighting throughout the automobile are all comprehensively customizable, with the identical types of themes obtainable on the PS5. I sampled the Ghost of Tsushima and Fortnite themes, every of which splayed the inside within the correct sequence of colours, including a splash of character to the in any other case vanilla surfaces.
That huge show is the key speaking level, however look a bit of decrease and you may spot the world’s largest quantity knob located between the seats. It is larger than the iDrive knob on most fashionable BMWs, but solely controls the output of the 28-speaker, Dolby Atmos-enabled sound system.
The software program interface, in the meantime, appeared largely unfinished, little greater than a two-row grid of outsized packing containers representing apps, settings and automobile controls. Given the width of the show, important controls can simply stretch past the motive force’s attain, leaving you to pull the entire array again to the left to get what you want.
After so a few years of seeing what Sony’s first automobile would actually appear like, I could not assist feeling disenchanted once I climbed out. However not almost as disenchanted as I used to be when trying down the spec sheet once more.
There are two trims of Afeela 1, the $89,900 Afeela 1 Origin and $102,900 Signature. The latter has bigger wheels (21-inch vs. 19), a rear-seat leisure system (shows embedded within the headrests plus an HDMI enter) and extra cameras. The Origin, in the meantime, is simply obtainable in black.
Significantly.
Why Sony would even take into consideration launching a $90,000 automobile that’s solely obtainable in black is past me. Spend the $13,000 extra for the Signature mannequin, and you continue to solely get three forgettable shades: white, grey and black once more.
Within the Origin we now have a automobile that prices $20,000 greater than a however has significantly much less vary and slower charging velocity. Go for the $102,900 Afeela 1 Signature trim, and also you’re now spending greater than a , which admittedly has much less vary however seems to be much better and can virtually assuredly be the extra participating drive.
5 years in the past, Sony’s vehicular aspirations made for an odd however intriguing undertaking. Now, all of it simply appears misguided. How will it really feel in one other 12 months when the primary vehicles begin rolling off from Honda’s Ohio manufacturing unit? That is anybody’s guess, however I am unable to think about tomorrow’s market will look any extra kindly upon this vehicular curiosity.
