Sony Honda Mobility has used CES to unveil an “evolved” version of the Afeela sedan. The latest prototype sports an updated design that closely previews the road-going model, which will go into production next year. Some of the most noticeable changes occur up front as the car adopts a new bumper and a protruding nose that houses a digital display. The latter is flanked by recessed headlights, which reside beneath an illuminated strip.
The styling changes continue further back
as the prototype sports thicker pillars and traditional side mirrors. We can
also see a new rear bumper, a revised trunk, and updated taillights. Besides
the styling tweaks, the car has grown in size as it now measures 4,915 mm long, 1,900 mm wide, and 1,460 mm tall
with a wheelbase that spans 3,000 mm. This means the latest
prototype is 20 mm longer, although the rest of the dimensions are
untouched.
Moving inside, we can see a familiar cabin
that largely carries over. That being said, there are a handful of updates
including a revised center console that appears to have a dual wireless
smartphone charger. It’s joined by a lightly revised steering wheel, a new
rearview mirror, and what appears to be a monitoring system. Motivation comes
from a dual motor all-wheel drive system, which has front and rear motors that
each produce 241 hp. This should give the car a combined
output of up to 483 hp.
The motors are powered by a 91 kWh
lithium-ion battery pack. The company was coy on additional information, but
confirmed the car has a 150 kW DC fast charging capability as well as an 11 kW
Level 2 charging capability. Besides showing the updated prototype, Sony Honda
Mobility announced a handful of other developments including a “conversational
personal agent” that uses Microsoft Azure OpenAI. The companies didn’t say much
about it, but they’re aiming for an “advanced voice-enabled system that
delivers seamless communication with natural language and conversation-like
interactions.”
Speaking of tech, the collaboration with
Epic Games has resulted in cool looking displays that are designed to be
immersive while also improving safety. These include game-like features including
monster mode and an ocean theme. The company also noted data captured from
sensors can be used to create a real-time 3D digital environment, which can be
augmented with additional information from the internet. This looked useful in
demo videos as people, cars, and road hazards could be shown on a display
despite being hard to see with the naked eye. Last but not least, Sony Honda
Mobility announced a partnership with Polyphony Digital. This will see the
Afeela prototype added to Gran Turismo 7 later this year.
