Sony and Honda have killed off the upcoming electric car, Afeela EV, before it could even get off the production line. It appears that the PlayStation-adjacent vehicle is a victim of Honda’s overhaul of its current position in the EV market going forward. On March 12, the company ripped up plans for the Honda 0 and Acura RDX, as well as the second planned Sony collaboration, Sony Honda Mobility, which was set to be an SUV.
The Sony Honda Afeela EV is at the center of the news, as it was supposed to launch this year with PlayStation-playing features. This was pitched as using PlayStation Remote Play, which would allow PS4 and PS5 games to be beamed directly to the car. It’s clear that this project being killed has come as a little bit of a surprise to Sony, as back in December, the company was issuing press releases and commenting on the Remote Play capabilities. The official Afeela site was updating as if the car was going to launch as of March 16, with a blog post announcing a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its Afeela Studio and Delivery Hub in Torrance, California.
Sony and Honda had priced the Afeela at $89,900, with a signature edition starting at $102,900. In the press release, Sony Honda Mobility (SHM) assured those with reservations that they will be issued a refund, and that discussions “regarding its future business plans” are still set to continue. While vague, SHM claims that “certain technologies and assets” that it had originally planned to use in the cars will no longer be available to the company.
No technologies, no subsidies, it’s hard times for Honda
The technology market is feeling the price pinch right now due to the rapid expansion of AI data centers. RAM hardware, which the vehicle would require, has seen prices skyrocket and become extremely scarce since OpenAI bought up 40% of the world’s future-produced hardware. Neither Sony nor Honda has confirmed this in any announcements.
Honda’s sales haven’t been in a good place in recent months, with a reported 2.5% of the 3.4 million cars sold under the brand accounting for electric vehicles. The current Trump administration’s end of subsidies on EVs has been attributed to the fall in sales for Honda. Speaking to Reuters, Christopher Richter, auto analyst from CLSA, said that the company spent too long deciding on what to do after Trump became president in 2025. Richter exaggerates, but says that some of the cars were shelved on the “eve of releasing them.”
It’s not just scrapping cars and indecisiveness that have Honda in a bind. Reports indicate that the company is struggling to keep up with the rise of EVs in China. Brands like BYD, Jaecoo, and Xpeng have rapidly outpaced the Japanese company, with its electric vehicles trumping Tesla in terms of technologies embedded in the cars. Chinese brands are becoming more prevalent as time goes on, namely due to the pricing of their cars. The BYD Seal’s latest refresh is priced at the USD equivalent of $15,300 in China, while Honda’s 0 EV was rumored to debut at around $50,000.
