Sony and Honda reveal new Afeela electric SUV prototype at CES 2026

Sony and Honda joined forces a few years ago and decided to build electric cars - their joint brand is called Afeela. This year, they brought something different to the stage at CES to show off their progress. It is a new prototype for the year 2026, and unsurprisingly, it is an SUV. It is the second vehicle the company has shown the world so far, with sales to start in the United States by 2028. The reveal was a bit of a surprise to the crowd as the car only appeared on stage for a very short time.

The Afeela Prototype 2026 looks very much like the company's first car. It has a smooth and very simple shape. Some people might say it looks clean, while others might think it looks a bit boring. It does not have many fancy lines; the roof curves down in the back like a coupe, making it look sporty, but it might make the back windows a bit small for the passengers. Since Afeela is a brand-new name, it might have a hard time standing out in a crowded parking lot full of other electric cars. It looks a lot like a modern Honda, which usually means value over flashy looks.

Afeela Prototype 2026 - source: Afeela

Yasuhide Mizuno, the boss at Afeela, did not say much about the new car during the big reveal in Las Vegas. He kept most of the details secret for now, but he did mention one important thing: it has more room inside than the Afeela 1 sedan. This is good news for families who need extra space for their bags and gear. The company is focusing heavily on the American market for this model.

If you like big screens and video games, this car is trying hard to get your attention. Even though the company did not show many photos of the cabin, we could see a screen that stretches across the whole dashboard. Passengers in the back seats get their own screens too. One of the most talked-about features is a built-in PlayStation 5. Sony clearly tries to turn electric cars into moving entertainment centers. It is a bold move, but it assumes people want to spend even more time staring at screens while they travel.

Afeela Prototype 2026 - source: Afeela

The new SUV likely uses the same powertrain as the sedan. That means it has two electric motors driving all four wheels. Together, they deliver 298 kW of power, which is around 400 horsepower. The car uses a 91 kWh battery pack - on a full charge, it should be good enough for about 298 miles. When the battery gets low, it can take in power at a rate of 150 kW (Afeela uses a Tesla-style NACS connector). These numbers are fine, but they aren't any better than many other EVs already on the road today.

Safety and self-driving are big parts of the Afeela plan. The car has a total of 40 sensors hidden around its body. This includes 18 cameras and 12 ultrasonic sensors. It also has nine mmWave radars and one LiDAR sensor. All these tools help the car see everything around it in 360 degrees, making it ready for Level 3 automation. The technology is impressive, but it adds a lot of expensive parts to the vehicle. Honda and Sony seem to think this high-end tech is what will make people want to buy their EVs.

Buying an Afeela will not be cheap for the average driver. The starting price for the base model of the Afeela 1 sedan is $89,900. If you want the top version, the price jumps to $102,900. For that extra money, you get big screens in the back for your passengers to watch movies, and you also get a choice of three different colors instead of just black. That is not a very long list of colors for such an expensive car. At over $100,000, Afeela is competing with the likes of Lucid, and the upcoming SUV will likely be even more expensive… Let's hope Honda and Sony know something about car buyers that the rest of the world doesn't.

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