The electric vehicle (EV) space just got more competitive with the recent entry of Sony Honda Mobility Inc. As per latest reports, the joint venture has said that their electric vehicle will be launched under the brand Afeela. With this, as experts believe, more competition is coming for the Elon Musk-backed Tesla.
According to Bloomberg, at the unveiling of the venture’s first prototype, Sony Honda Mobility Chief Executive Officer Yasuhide Mizuno said that the cars associated with Afeela will capitalize on the expertise of Sony Group Corp. and Honda Motor Co. In addition to this, the new venture is also reportedly collaborating with Qualcomm Inc. and Epic Games Inc. to enable 5G connectivity and entertainment.
The report adds that Sony has said that it would keep updating the Afeela cars and Snapdragon Digital Chassis would be designed to enable that. Since even this vehicle would be largely software-defined, the report mentions that the joint venture’s first car to roll out on the CES stage was a sedan that featured 45 sensors, including cameras, radar and ultrasonic sensors.
While the launch of Afeela is an impetus to the EV space, it also being seen as a new challenge to the existing big players like Tesla. On this, the Bloomberg report reads, “Tesla Inc. has set the standard for connected vehicle experiences, through the regular addition of games and other enhancements over the course of owning one of its vehicles. Sony, Honda and many European automakers like Volkswagen AG are now collaborating to combine car manufacturing capabilities with electronics firms’ knowledge of entertainment, networking and sensors to shorten development times for smart electric vehicles.
