CES 2026: Sony’s AFEELA 1 EV is back and ready

Sony Honda Mobility also showcased the AFEELA 1 electric car at CES this year. If, like me, you saw it last year, the experience will feel very familiar. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing. The AFEELA 1 still looks polished, still leans heavily on its identity as an entertainment platform, and still feels more like a Sony product than a traditional car. The difference is that this year it’s less about fancy new features and more about refinement.

Sony Honda Mobility used its CES keynote to reiterate its vision of “travel as a creative entertainment space,” positioning the AFEELA 1 as a vehicle built around the time spent inside it, not just getting from point A to B. Sitting inside an EV again, that philosophy is obvious. The panoramic dashboard display remains a staple, encompassing the entire cabin and serving as the main interface for navigation, media, and apps.

Alongside the AFEELA 1, Sony Honda Mobility also showcased an SUV-style prototype, called the AFEELA Prototype 2026. Despite its name, the company says that the prototype will likely go into production in 2028 at the earliest. It looks exactly the same as the AFEELA 1, only in SUV form, although Sony Honda Mobility is remaining tight-lipped on further details for now. We will have to wait for more information on AFEELA 1’s sibling as it gets closer to production.

Meanwhile, AFEELA 1 has plenty to keep us entertained – literally. One of my favorite features of AFEELA 1 is its PlayStation Remote Play. If you already own a PS5, you can stream games to the rear seat monitors using the DualSense controller. I tested it for the first time after it was teased last year, and its connectivity wasn’t too bad. Obviously, it couldn’t stream live in 4K, but there was no noticeable lag and it held up reliably even in a crowded demo area. It’s still a “you already need to be purchased from the PlayStation ecosystem” feature, but it works more consistently now than ever.

The AI ​​assistant, AFEELA, is also back, and is best described as competent but unremarkable. Sony Honda Mobility pitches it as a “personal agent” powered by Microsoft Azure OpenAI, intended to support natural conversation and personalization over time. In fact, it behaves like a normal car assistant. It can open applications, set locations, adjust settings, and respond to basic content notifications. It was filling my shirt using the cameras in the car, so that was cool.

Where AFEELA 1 feels advanced is basic. The interior runs very smoothly overall, with quick screen responses and few hiccups when switching between apps. The cabin feels calmer and more composed, and it’s clear that Sony Honda Mobility prioritizes comfort and stability over test features.

That sense of polish extends to the way Sony Honda Mobility positions the AFEELA 1 as a production facility. Beyond entertainment, the car supports applications such as Zoom, which allows you to take video calls inside the cabin. The camera angle is closed, so be aware that you may not see well when it is open. They scaled it down, and the camera was wide enough to capture the entire car, rather than framing it like a handheld webcam.

All this refinement comes at a very high price. The AFEELA 1 is priced starting at $89,900, with top trims exceeding $100,000, placing it firmly in the luxury EV space. At that price, one’s expectations should be higher than just being able to perform well. However, this year’s demo suggests that Sony Honda Mobility is focusing on getting the basics right before hitting California roads later this year.

Go to the Mashable CES 2026 hub for the latest news and live updates from the biggest tech game, where Mashable reporters report live.