While there's plenty of auto news to be heard at CES 2025, the talk at the show is all about the Afeela 1. Again. For five years now, Sony has been showing some variations on the same theme, first in 2020 then before accepting a failed rebrand to and this year, finally, on Afila 1.
Along the way, the car lost what little interesting styling it had while remaining true to some of the characteristics that sounded good five years ago. Everything looks a little different, not least the starting price: .
I had the opportunity to get closer and step into the car, a demonstration that began with another explanation of what Afila means. It's kind of a loaded portmanteau of “autonomy,” “augmentation,” and “closeness.”
This year's Afeela 1 is not much different from last year's countless show car. The only significant visual upgrade is found in the gauge cluster protruding from the leading edge of the roof. The LiDAR module now stands proudly along with a pair of cameras at either end, facing in opposite directions like chameleons.
While the bug-eyed look isn't particularly charming, it's the only bit of visual character in the bland design. The only external topic of discussion is the display integrated into the leading edge of the hood. This “media panel” is another thing that seemed new and fun on a concept car a few years ago.
It should greet you in the car or convey messages to those around you. But from a distance it's hard to read, and up close you can see the unfortunate seam in the middle where two panels were somewhat crudely joined together to form this thing.
To open the driver's door, you either press a button in the app or press a small button built into the pillar. There are no door handles to pull on, not even a fin like on . I couldn't help but wonder what you would do if you were parked in an ice storm and the door froze. They didn't give me a clear answer.
These doors open into a space that is as restrained as the exterior, save for one thing: the display that spans the entire dashboard. It's bright and clear, and that's the only thing that reminded me that this was a Sony product. Well, there's also a DualSense controller that you can connect to your car and then launch PS Remote Play while charging.
And you'll have to do something, because the Afeela 1's maximum charging rate is 150 kW for its 91 kWh battery, giving it a range of approximately 300 miles. Compare that to the cheaper Lucid Air, which can charge twice as fast and travel over 400 miles on a charge, and you start to see the real problem with this thing.
This display and the ambient lighting inside the car can be fully customized using the same themes found on PS5. I tried Ghost of Tsushima And Fortnite themes, each of which painted the interior in a corresponding series of colors, adding personality to the vanilla surfaces.
That large display is the talk of the town, but look a little lower and you'll see the world's largest volume knob located between the seats. It's larger than the iDrive knob on most modern BMWs, but only controls the audio from the 28-speaker Dolby Atmos-enabled audio system.
The software interface, meanwhile, looked largely unfinished: little more than a two-row grid of huge rectangles representing apps, settings and car controls. Given the width of the display, vital controls can easily extend beyond the driver's reach, and you'll have to drag the entire array back to the left to get what you need.
After so many years of seeing what Sony's first machine would actually look like, I couldn't help but feel disappointed when I stepped out of it. But not as disappointed as I was when looking at the specs again.
There are two trims of the Afeela 1: the Afeela 1 Origin for $89,900 and the Signature for $102,900. The latter has larger wheels (21 inches versus 19), a rear-seat entertainment system (headrest-mounted displays plus an HDMI input) and additional cameras. Meanwhile, the Origin is only available in black.
Seriously.
I don't understand why Sony would even consider releasing a $90,000 car that was only available in black. Spend another $13,000 on the Signature model and you'll still only get three unforgettable shades: white, gray and black again.
Origin has a car that costs $20,000 more than but has a significantly shorter range and slower charging speed. Opt for the $102,900 Afeela 1 Signature trim and you'll now be spending more than which admittedly has a shorter range, but looks much better and will almost certainly be a more attractive drive.
Five years ago, Sony's automotive ambitions led to the creation of a strange but intriguing project. Now all this seems wrong. How will you feel in 12 months when the first cars start rolling out of Honda's Ohio plant? This is anyone's guess, but I can't imagine the market of tomorrow will look more kindly on this automotive oddity.