{"id":65379,"date":"2024-01-08T21:17:01","date_gmt":"2024-01-09T02:17:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=65379"},"modified":"2024-01-08T21:17:01","modified_gmt":"2024-01-09T02:17:01","slug":"sony-drove-its-afeela-ev-concept-onto-stage-using-a-ps5-controller","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=65379","title":{"rendered":"Sony used a PS5 controller to drive its AFEELA EV onto stage at CES"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sony is now on its fifth year of showing off its upcoming electric car in its CES press conferences, which we learned last year<\/a> will be named AFEELA and is planned hit the market in 2026.<\/p>\n

This year, the press conference focused on Sony\u2019s software plans for its new vehicle \u2013\u00a0along with a heap of the latest buzzwords, mostly to do with AI.<\/p>\n

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To recap, the AFEELA concept was originally stated<\/a> to have 400kW (536hp) dual-motor all-wheel-drive, 0-100km\/h (0-62mph) in 4.8 seconds, and a top speed of 240km\/h (149mph). As far as we\u2019re aware, those are still the specs Sony is aiming for. We still have no information on price or battery size, but we do have two more years until this car hits the road, so price will surely come later.<\/p>\n

Sony is focusing on its electronics expertise by highlighting the car\u2019s sensing and infotainment systems. Like just about every electric car coming out these days, the AFEELA will have a wide array of sensors for potential autonomous driving tasks.<\/p>\n

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And inside the car, Sony thinks that it can provide better infotainment due to its experience in consumer entertainment. It wants to implement continuous over-the-air software updates, and has shown interior photos of large displays in both the front and back seats, seeming to indicate that there could be PS5-level performance available for gaming tasks in the car (potentially giving Tesla a run for its money in the $100,000 gaming device<\/a> market).<\/p>\n

But lest we think this is just an electronics company putting up a pipe dream of a product to get more eyes on their CES conference presentation, Sony has taken steps to show that its serious about building this car. It has already partnered with Honda<\/a> to form Sony Honda Mobility, Inc. Interestingly, Sony got top billing in the partnership, rather than Honda \u2013\u00a0perhaps a reflection of the Japanese automaker\u2019s hesitance towards anything EV.<\/p>\n

New details on the AFEELA \u2013 or not<\/h2>\n

In today\u2019s press conference, Sony brought Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe on stage to talk about the partnership and how mobility is going through a \u201conce in 100 year\u201d transformation\u201d \u2013\u00a0though in his speech, he didn\u2019t use the word \u201celectric\u201d once.<\/p>\n

Then Yasuhide Mizuno, CEO of Sony Honda Mobility Inc., came on stage to talk about the in-car software experience. He started off by showing the car\u2019s software-defined nature by\u2026 driving the car onto stage with a PS5 controller.<\/p>\n

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But don\u2019t get too excited \u2013\u00a0he stated that this was \u201cfor the purpose of stage showcase only.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, what the demonstration shows is that cars are becoming more defined by software, rather than hardware. With software having deep control of vehicle functions, over-the-air updates can change several characteristics of the drive experience, and can improve vehicles over time.<\/p>\n

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But it also means that these vehicles can have software problems<\/a>, perhaps moreso than vehicles used to experienced before they were so software-driven.<\/p>\n

Sony says that the software-defined nature of the car will turn the car into a \u201cdigital playground\u201d for creators to invent new in-car experiences. It showed an example game that renders a vehicle in a mock world alongside escaped godzilla-like monsters, which you can get points for catching.<\/p>\n

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It also said it wants to \u201cfoster a creative community between users and creators\u201d with \u201caccess to vehicle data\u201d in order to \u201crealize unique ideas.\u201d Which frankly sounds a little Orwellian, not particularly helped by the fact that it then brought \u201cBig Brother\u201d Microsoft<\/a> on stage to announce a partnership that\u2026 had something (?) to do with AI. Frankly, I blanked out a bit during this part, because I\u2019ve heard enough AI buzzwords this year.<\/p>\n

And then Sony closed up the press conference, without any new details on price, battery, the SUV version which appeared two years ago and hasn\u2019t since, or a reiteration of the previously-announced 2026 availability.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a replay of the full conference (AFEELA presentation starts at 34:23):<\/p>\n

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