Afeela Prototype 2026 turns Sony’s CES slot into an EV update
Sony’s traditional CES press-conference slot has effectively become a Sony Honda Mobility update, with the joint venture using CES 2026 to push its Afeela EV roadmap rather than Sony’s usual spread of TVs, cameras and entertainment. In Las Vegas on 5 January 2026 (local time), the company debuted the Afeela Prototype 2026 and reiterated that the first production car, Afeela 1, is still on track for initial US deliveries later this year.
Afeela Prototype 2026 is shown on stage alongside a second vehicle as Sony Honda Mobility’s Yasuhide Mizuno outlines its EV plans. Source: Sony Honda Mobility.
Afeela Prototype 2026 sets the tone
In its CES statement, Sony Honda Mobility says deliveries in California are scheduled to begin within 2026, with expansion planned to Arizona in 2027. The newly shown Afeela Prototype 2026 is positioned as a more spacious, more accessible evolution of the Afeela 1 idea, and the company says it is targeting a US launch for a production model based on that prototype as early as 2028.
One report also framed the reveal as an outlier at a show where many automakers have cooled on big EV launches, while repeating the 2028 timeframe for a model derived from the new prototype.
What it implies for the electronics stack
For eeNews readers, the interesting parts aren’t the bodywork; they’re the platform decisions. Sony Honda Mobility says its next-generation electrical/electronic architecture will adopt solutions from Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Digital Chassis, signalling a tighter coupling between in-vehicle compute, connectivity and the broader software stack. The company also talked up an “AFEELA Co-Creation Program” aimed at giving creators development documentation for in-vehicle entertainment content, and floated a token-based, on-chain mobility service platform concept.
That “car as a software platform” framing isn’t new for Sony, but CES 2026 is where it’s being operationalised: the company is talking less about concept-car theatre and more about rollout sequencing, partner technology and developer access. For context on how long this arc has been building, see our earlier coverage of Afeela’s exterior microLED display concept and the JV’s positioning as an electronics-led vehicle programme: Honda, Sony launch Afeela with microLED external display.
Another report similarly says the near-term headline remains the delivery schedule, with late- 2026 customer deliveries for Afeela 1 in the US and a production variant derived from the SUV-like Afeela Prototype 2026 pencilled in for the 2028 window.
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