Honda and Sony have revealed the first fruits of their electric car partnership with the AFEELA prototype at CES 2023 - a vision of a future electric car that will be launching in North America in spring 2026. Not only is AFEELA the name of the prototype, but it will also be the name of the brand under which future vehicles will be sold.

If the AFEELA prototype looks familiar, it appears to be an advancement of the Sony Vision-S concept we've seen at CES before.

The prototype is a statement of intent, focusing on advanced e-mobility, autonomous driving, and in-car infotainment. To that end, the prototype features 45 cameras and sensors inside and out and computing power to the tune of 800 TOPS (Tera "trillion" Operations Per Second).

These various sensors and cameras enable Level 3 automated driving in limited scenarios, with Level 2+ driver assistance available in most driving conditions, including urban areas. Honda, lest we forget, was the first automaker to reach the market with level 3 autonomy technology, and very few other OEMs have managed to catch up.

While visually, the car is similar to the Vision-S and features the same shape and external "Media Bar" to communicate to pedestrians, the interior is almost identical, including a full-width digital dashboard experience. Sony Honda Mobility (SHM), through its new AFEELA brand, wants to "evolve mobility space into entertainment and emotional space" by integrating the real and virtual worlds seamlessly into one experience. To do so, the company has teamed up with Epic Games to build new values and mobility concepts using the Unreal Engine.

AFEELA won't keep all of this great tech for itself, though, and plans to build an open community that will benefit automotive industry partners. In the short term, that means Honda will likely be the first to see the trickle-down tech in models like the forthcoming Prologue and likely future iterations of the Honda Accord. However, others may also benefit, especially if Honda deepens its partnership with General Motors.

Instead of focusing on the mechanical details of the prototype, SHM chose to highlight its computational aspects at CES 2023. The computational architecture includes the latest technologies, including a Snapdragon Digital Chassis from Qualcomm Technologies that will form the backbone of the various autonomous systems.

From a mechanical perspective, the production version of the AFEELA prototype will feature all-wheel drive, likely in the form of a dual-motor electric powertrain. In the Vision-S Concept, two 268-horsepower (200 kW) electric motors were used to create a 536-hp EV.

Measuring 192.7 inches long, 74.8 inches wide, and 57.5 inches high with a 118.1-inch wheelbase, the prototype is slightly shorter than an Accord, but with a longer wheelbase. Front double wishbone and rear multi-link suspension systems should ensure ample handing capabilities, too, although much of that will hinge on how well it can disguise the weight of its battery pack, the size of which remains undisclosed. However, given the AFEELA name is derived from "an interactive relationship where people "FEEL" mobility as an intelligent entity."

We'll learn more over the coming months and years, however, as a market launch is planned for spring 2026, with pre-orders opening early in 2025 via a new online platform. AFEELA is expected to be built at Honda's upcoming EV manufacturing plant in Ohio.