Sony and Honda unveil their car brand, Afeela | CNN Business

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Sony and Honda, who last year announced a joint venture to develop and build electric cars, have revealed the name of their new car brand. It will be called Afeela.

In a presentation during the Consumer Electronics Show, Sony Honda Mobility CEO Yasuhide Mizuno revealed a prototype of the company’s first car, which looked like a mid-size sedan, but revealed few details about it. The car will be available to order and even buy in 2025, he said, but the first deliveries of the car won’t be made in North America until 2026, he said. The car will be built at one of Honda’s factories.

“At the heart of this mobility experience is the word ‘feel,'” Mizuno said, explaining that the focus will be on feeling and interacting with people.

The car will feature Honda’s safety and driver assistance systems, along with Sony’s engaging and interactive features, Mizuno said. In developing the car, the emphasis has been on software and user interface technology as much as on driving dynamics and performance, he said.

Above the car’s front bumper is a narrow exterior screen that the company calls a media bar. It will allow the vehicle to display information and interact with people outside the vehicle, Mizuno said.

Inside, the company works with the Unreal Engine graphics technology from Epic Games, the company that produces Fortnite, to design interfaces for the vehicle. Unreal Engine technology has also been used by other car brands, including General Motors, which used the technology in the Hummer EV. The car will come with a host of entertainment options, he said.

Mizuno also boasted of the 45 cameras and sensors inside and outside the vehicle, some of which are used to detect the driver’s condition to help ensure alertness and safety.