We Have Bad Afeela'ns about the Sony-Honda Electric Car

This year's 2024 CES unleashed an onslaught of screens, artificial intelligence, and quite a few new EVs to look forward to. Amidst the chaos, we grabbed some time with the Sony-Honda joint venture Afeela concept EV. No additional stats or details resulted from this recent look, but with it did come some new and rather worrying revelations about what the Afeela car—and other upcoming cars like it—portend.

The indomitable Aaron Gold gave us a wonderful hands-on examination of the Afeela concept EV sedan last March, but the gist is this: There's a giant pillar-to-pillar screen that, in addition to displaying relevant in-car information, also gives passengers the option to enjoy media in the form of music, movies, and even video games. Rear-facing screens ensure back-seat occupants aren't left out of the fun. Even the steering "wheel" is a yoke so it doesn't block the driver's view of the precious screens.

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For now, the Afeela concept car can only show media Sony has the rights to, according to a company rep. Jury's still out on whether the car will feature an integrated PlayStation, but it's certainly an idea that's still being ironed out. So, this time around with the Afeela, we scrolled through some preset themes that includedSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,theGran Turismomovie, andFortnite.Each theme resulted in a corresponding cabin light signature and branded displays on both the driver information cluster and the digital display bar (see also: screen) set in the car's nose.

Yes to what you're thinking: You can ostensibly turn your personal vehicle into a rollingFortniteadvertisement inside and out. Late-stage capitalism aside, there's a practical concern here, too: What happens if you get into a 1-mph fender bender and crack the screen? A repair bill amounting to thousands of dollars?

The CES experience was extremely limited in scope in that it was only meant to show the screens' capabilities, but I've sat in enough concept cars to conclude I've never experienced a vehicle that displayed as much outward disdain for the act of riding in a car as this one. The very best thing I can say about it is at least the cowl is low so you can still see the road over the screens.

Yet it's clear the Afeela itself seems only to care about those screens. It is not enough we have laptops, tablets, phones, and smartwatches all screeching for our collective attention; the car is merely additional real estate into which we can cram pixels. Is the general public so desperate for digital stimulation, so afraid of being left alone with their own thoughts, so averse to conversing with other fellow human beings, or so allergic to merely looking out the window that there's a market for this? For an automaker to plaster screens with which to blast media all over the inside of a car during rides?

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Maybe I'm looking at it the wrong way. Maybe nobody asked for this. Maybe this, in fact, is the logical next step for companies that now see cars as subscription-based revenue streams. Sure, you can watch Miles Morales challenge the Prowler in your Afeela on a multi-screen display (with an incredible refresh rate and immersive surround-sound, I might add). But then what's stopping someone from offering tiered subscription plans? If you opt for the cheaper plan, do you have to sit through ads beamed onto your eyeballs from your own car, Amazon Prime-style?

And from there, what's stopping ads from popping up in your car in general? The Afeela rep had no comment on the matter, as everything would come down to who Sony partners with, but come on.

The Afeela concept invited me to imagine the possibilities, so here's a possibility: You're driving with your family on the way to a weekend getaway. The in-car camera watching your face observes you seem drowsy. The car feeds you an ad for a Starbucks two exits away with a prompt asking you if you'd like to place a mobile order for pickup at the drive-thru. Meanwhile, the car recognizes your GPS input as a seaside resort; it offers to route you to Walmart for some beach supplies. Near lunchtime, an ad for a nearby Chick-fil-A pops up.

Is this an optimistic future, one where connected cars and software-defined vehicles have the potential to optimize our lives beyond belief? Our roads could become safer. Traffic congestion could lessen. Or could this advert-overload make you think about immediately wanting to walk into the ocean in our hypothetical getaway? Again, what if you bump your, uh, bumper screen on something along the way? Maybe losing your themed rolling marketing exercise would offset the repair bill's sting.

Look, 20 years ago, if you told me you could buy an international plane ticket and also hail yourself a cab to go to the airport all from a little handheld rectangle that doubles as a cell phone and calculator, I would have told you to lay off the acid. The same revelations are coming for cars—but with them, I fear, the same inevitabilities from profit-driven corporate backers.

It's not clear how the Afeela fits into Honda's broader EV plan, especially now that it announced its own 0-branded "thin, light, and wise" electric portfolio, but perhaps the Honda cars will be focused on driving dynamics, whereas the Honda-Sony car will prioritize technology.

Afeela says its sedan will be built in the United States and plans to accept preorders in the first half of next year in order to start deliveries in early 2026.