Preview: High-Tech 2027 Afeela 1 Born From Honda and Sony Partnership

If the Afeela 1 was intended as a showcase for semi-autonomous driving features, its existence begins to make sense, sort of. After all, that’s why Honda and Sony partnered in the first place. But it took nearly half a decade to get this project from dream to not-quite-reality preorder status.

Honda is taking a multi-pronged approach to the electric vehicle market. Its partnership with General Motors resulted in the Honda Prologue and Acura ZDX that are on the market now, although the two automakers will not build any future EVs together. Looking ahead, the automaker has introduced EV concepts for its Honda and Acura brands and is formally exploring an alliance with Nissan to better position the companies to compete in the China-dominated global EV market.

So where does that leave the poor Afeela 1? We suspect that after the first couple of months of preorders are tallied, it may be the subject of some hurt feelings at SHM HQ. Still, the preorder deposit is only $200, so if you’re in the market for a $90,000-plus sedan and are dying to see how this unlikely EV competitor’s saga plays out, what do you have to lose, really?

If the Mercedes-Benz EQS looks like a computer mouse, the Afeela 1 looks like an even older one—devoid of any ornament other than its roof-mounted sensor bulges and wheels that looked patterned after 1970s mainframe magnetic tape reels. Even the colors are lackluster. The Origin trim comes only in black, while the six-figure Signature trim features the availability of black, white, or a bluish-gray color. The Origin trim gets 19-inch wheels; the Signature gets 21-inch wheels.

The motorized doors lack actual handles and open and close automatically. Up front, there’s a customizable screen between the headlights that could, in theory, be used to greet other motorists or pedestrians. As of yet, there’s nothing else to report about the figure this car will cut in the Whole Foods parking lot.

Interior color availability isn’t much better than the exterior paint options. The Origin interior trim is available only in black, while the Signature trim adds the availability of gray. Both benefit from a huge expanse of screen space across the entire dash, while the Signature is the sole beneficiary of a pair of 12.9-inch seatback screens for the rear seats. The rear seat also features 12-volt and 120-volt AC power outlets, as well as USB-C and HDMI connections.

A pair of 241-horsepower electric motors—one front, one rear—propel the Afeela 1. At 482 hp combined, the Afeela 1 is likely to be quick, but not on a par with similarly priced electric cars. For example, the comparably priced Lucid Air Touring—a midlevel trim for that model—packs a 620-hp all-wheel-drive powertrain and more than 400 miles of range. A Tesla Model S Plaid with a starting price similar to the Afeela 1 has a 1,020-hp tri-motor powertrain that will not only give 348 miles of driving range but will also rocket the car to 60 mph in less than 2 seconds.

Still, horsepower flexing only goes so far in everyday traffic conditions. The Afeela 1’s real drawbacks may be its relatively small propulsion battery and limited charging capacity. The Afeela has a maximum DC charge rate of 150 kW, so even though the NACS charging port lets it use a Tesla Supercharger, it probably won’t charge nearly as quickly as a standard Model S, which can max out at 250 kW.

Although details are still sparse, the Afeela 1 comes with what SHM calls the 3D Motion Management System that the manufacturer says “includes innovative posture control technology through robotics development, integrates control of the motor, brakes, and suspension to provide optimal ride comfort and precision handling on various road surfaces.” Translated, that probably means it has an active suspension system that uses sensors to adjust damping to road surfaces to make the ride more comfortable.

Other than vague, breezily worded platitudes, SHM hasn’t gone into a lot of detail about what will be included on the list of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). The automaker says the Afeela 1 will have a "Level 2+" ADAS system, which we assume means that it will provide features similar to Cadillac’s Super Cruise or Tesla’s Full Self Driving active driving assistance (ADA) systems, which combine lane centering assistance and adaptive cruise control. Neither of those makes a vehicle “self-driving,” but they do offer limited hands-free driving.