Sony And Honda’s EV Collab Is Officially Called Afeela, But It’s Still A Long Way Away – SlashGear

Based on the teaser video published by Sony Honda Mobility, the Afeela concept is an EV that may prove sleek enough to lure prospective buyers away from Tesla, the current reigning champ when it comes to electric cars. We get a look at Afeela inside and out, with the car using its various carefully-concealed sensors to observe the world around it. That’s not just for automation — which will feature heavily in the model, of course — but also for convenience features. The EV automatically opens the driver’s door as someone approaches, for example.

Afeela’s interior packs the kind of tech you’d expect from a luxury EV, and there’s even a yoke steering wheel — though if Tesla’s experimentation with that design is anything to go by, the company may need to rethink that element. How much of this design will remain in the final product? It’s hard to say at this point, as the vehicle introduced for CES 2023 is a prototype unit. There is at least one element that is unique enough that we can only hope it’ll persist through the evolution of the product, though: an exterior information bar somewhat akin to the color bar found on the back of a PS4 controller. 

In Afeela’s case, however, this bar functions as a way to communicate information: the current weather, the car’s charge percentage, and similar. The company describes this feature, which it calls the Media Bar, as follows: “Intelligent mobility has made it possible to express one’s intentions to people outside. It is a new-age interface where interactive relationships begin even before boarding.” One could perhaps think of this as an automotive mood ring packed between the headlights.