The Sony Afeela Was Doomed to Fail | WIREDSkip to main contentMenuSECURITYPOLITICSTHE BIG STORYBUSINESSSCIENCECULTUREREVIEWSMenuAccountAccountNewslettersBest LaptopsBest Premium SoundbarsApple MacBook NeoDigital Wall CalendarsHome Security CamerasDeals DeliveredSecurityPoliticsThe Big StoryBusinessScienceCultureReviewsChevronMoreExpandThe Big InterviewMagazineEventsWIRED InsiderWIRED ConsultingNewslettersPodcastsVideoLivestreamsMerchSearchSearchAarian MarshallGearMar 26, 2026 10:13 AMThe Sony Afeela Was Doomed to FailA six-year EV rollout ends with a thud.Photograph: CAROLINE BREHMAN/Getty ImagesCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storySony-Honda is no longer Afeelin’ it. This week, the Japanese joint venture that for years had promised to bring a video-game sensibility to a digital-first electric car was abruptly canceled. The two companies snuffed out one vehicle, the Afeela 1, that was first announced three years ago, and also halted work on another model under development.Sony Honda Mobility (SHM) pinned the blame on Honda’s larger EV pivot. Earlier this month, the automaker canceled its “0 Series” lineup of electric vehicles after posting a $15.7 billion loss amid bigger changes in the global EV market. Because of those shifts, the joint venture wrote in a press release, “SHM will not be able to utilize certain technologies and assets that were originally planned to be provided by Honda.”Reservation holders will get full refunds, the company said, and "discussions" about the future of the Sony-Honda partnership “will continue.” So the PlayStation-first car of everyone’s dreams may still be far ahead on the horizon, maybe.The Afeela, though, was a weird fit from the start. Let’s put aside the odd name and its cornucopia of associated pun opportunities. (We will accept late-breaking submissions in the comments.) For one thing, the Afeela 1’s release was interminable.Sony first announced its precursor, then called the Vision-S, back in 2020. The Afeela itself was the star of the Sony-Honda show at CES four consecutive times. A “near production” refined prototype made an appearance in Las Vegas just this past January. But by then, the whole concept felt a bit stale. A “computer on wheels” was sort of novel in 2020; now, a “software-defined vehicle” is the assumed starting point for every new car.Photograph: Tristan deBrauwereThe vehicle’s specs, once announced in 2025, didn’t do the brand any favors. The Afeela 1 was an electric sedan in the US market, where electric SUVs are the preferred profile. It had an estimated range of 300 miles, piddling compared to other new luxury EVs like the Lucid Air (420 miles), the Mercedes-Benz EQS (390 miles), and the Rivian R1 (410 miles). On that luxury point: The Afeela 1’s $90,000 price made it particularly uncompetitive-feeling as other automakers kept announcing new models. The Afeela 1 was slated for debut in late 2026, but only for buyers in California.It’s an open question whether the Afeela 1’s entertainment selling point is something consumers want or need from a car right now. The sedan’s promised autonomous driving capabilities were supposed to be imminent, and so the car was stuffed to keep all nondrivers nice and distracted: screens on the dash and in front of passenger seats; built-in PlayStation Remote Play; visual “themes”; tons of in-car apps. True self-driving functionality, though, has yet to come to personal cars. Do people really want to sit in their stationary vehicles and game? Now it’s a question for the farther-off future.But Sony-Honda’s greatest challenge may have been America’s stop-start approach to electric vehicles. Consumer uptake of battery-powered cars has stalled since the US federal government cut support for both EV-curious customers and those assembling EVs and their components in American factories. BloombergNEF, which estimated in 2024 that EVs would account for nearly half of new US car sales in 2030, reduced its projection to 27 percent last year—a cut of 14 million car sales.Honda, already a late-bloomer in the EV space, clearly doesn’t believe that it’s worth spending gobs of money right now to catch up with the industry’s battery-powered leaders. The sad tale of the Afeela, then, is probably a C-plot in the darker story of the US EV market. We’re Afeelin’ blue, too.CommentsBack to topTriangleYou Might Also LikeIn your inbox: Upgrade your life with WIRED-tested gearNvidia plans to launch an open-source AI agent platformBig Story: He built the Epstein database—it consumed his lifeShould you leave your phone charging overnight?Watch: How right wing influencers infiltrated the governmentAarian Marshall is a staff writer covering transportation systems and cities. Before joining WIRED, she wrote for The Atlantic’s CityLab. Marshall is based in San Diego and is developing opinions about tacos. ... Read MoreStaff WriterXTopicsElectric VehiclesEVs and HybridsautomobilescarsInfrastructureSonyHondaRead MoreThe 19 Best EVs Coming in 2026We’re expecting fresh electrics from Rivian, Hyundai, Honda, BMW, and newcomer Slate, among others. 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Sony Honda Mobility’s ambitious foray into the automotive market with the Afeela electric vehicle project ultimately ended in a significant setback, marking a culmination of strategic missteps and a shift in the company’s overall direction. This six-year venture, initially envisioned as a groundbreaking attempt to blend the technological prowess of Sony with the automotive engineering of Honda, collapsed primarily due to Honda’s decision to abandon its “0 Series” all-electric vehicle lineup. This decision, triggered by a substantial $15.7 billion loss, directly impacted Sony Honda Mobility’s ability to utilize previously planned technological and asset contributions from Honda, effectively rendering the Afeela project untenable. The venture’s timeline, stretching from 2020 with the initial Vision-S concept to the January 2026 appearance of a near-production prototype, highlights a protracted and ultimately unsuccessful attempt to establish a unique identity in a rapidly evolving EV landscape. Critically, the Afeela 1’s design – a US-market electric sedan – proved ill-suited to the prevailing consumer preference for SUVs, lacking the range and performance benchmarks demanded by competitors like Lucid, Mercedes-Benz, and Rivian. Furthermore, the vehicle’s high price point of $90,000 contributed to its uncompetitive positioning amid broader market trends. The considerable investment in features like extensive in-car entertainment systems and promised autonomous driving capabilities, while technologically advanced, ultimately failed to resonate with consumers facing broader macroeconomic headwinds and a stalled US EV market, as indicated by BloombergNEF’s revised projections for EV adoption. This culminated in a situation where Sony-Honda's efforts, spearheaded by Aarian Marshall and his team, were sidelined by Honda’s larger strategic realignment, illustrating a cautionary tale regarding the challenges of disrupting established automotive markets and the importance of aligning product development with evolving consumer preferences and broader industry trends.