Sony’s Afeela 1 feels like the PlayStation 4 in the PS5 era

While there is plenty of automotive news at CES 2025, far and away the talk of the show is the Afeela 1. Again. For five years now, Sony has demonstrated some variations on the same theme, first as in 2020, then before accepting the ill-fated rebranding of and this year finally to Afeela 1.

Along the way, the car lost what little interesting styling it had while sticking to some specs that sounded good five years ago. Everything just feels a little off, not the least of which is the starting price: .

I was able to get up close to the car and see it inside, a demonstration that began with another explanation of what Afeela means. It’s sort of a tired portmanteau for the words autonomy, augmentation, and affinity.

This year’s Afeela 1 is little changed from last year’s countless show car. The only significant visual update is found in the touchpad protruding from the leading edge of the roof. The LiDAR module now stands proudly, along with several cameras on either end facing in opposite directions, like a chameleon.

While the bug-eyed look isn’t particularly charming, it’s the only visual character in an otherwise boring design. The only other external talking point is the display built into the front edge of the lid. That “media strip” is another thing that looked new and fun a few years ago on a concept car.

He should greet you in the car or send messages to the people around you. But it’s hard to read from a distance, and up close you can see the unfortunate seam down the middle where two panels were kind of crudely joined together to form the thing.

To open the driver’s door, either tap a button in the app or press a small button built into the column. There are no door handles to pull, not even a token fin like na . I couldn’t help but ask what you do if you park in an ice storm and the door is frozen. I didn’t get much of a response.

Those doors open to a space that’s as unassuming as the exterior, except for one thing: the dash-stretching display. It’s vibrant and clear, and it’s the only thing here that reminded me that this is a Sony product. Well, that and the DualSense controller, which you can pair with the car and then activate PS Remote Play while charging.

And you’ll have to do something, because the Afeela 1’s maximum charging speed is 150kW for its 91kWh battery, which provides approximately 300 miles of range. Compare that to the cheaper Lucid Air, which can charge twice as fast and cover over 400 miles on a charge, and you start to see the real problem with this thing.

This display plus the ambient lighting in the car are fully customizable, with the same types of themes available on the PS5. I took a sample from Ghost of Tsushima and Fortnite themes, each splashing the interior in the right series of colors, adding a touch of personality to otherwise vanilla surfaces.

That large display is the main talking point, but look a little lower and you’ll notice the world’s largest volume knob nestled between the seats. It’s larger than the iDrive knob on most modern BMWs, but it only controls the output of the 28-speaker Dolby Atmos-capable sound system.

The software interface, meanwhile, looked largely unfinished, little more than a two-row grid of large boxes representing the car’s apps, settings and controls. Given the width of the display, vital controls can easily extend beyond the driver’s reach, leaving you to slide the entire array back to the left to get to what you need.

After so many years of seeing what Sony’s first car would really look like, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed when it came out. But not as disappointed as I was when I looked at the spec sheet again.

There are two versions of the Afeela 1, the $89,900 Afeela 1 Origin and the $102,900 Signature. The latter has larger wheels (21-inch vs. 19), a rear-seat entertainment system (displays built into the headrests plus an HDMI input) and additional cameras. The Origin, meanwhile, is only available in black.

seriously.

Why Sony would even consider releasing a $90,000 car that only comes in black is beyond me. Spend $13,000 more on the Signature model and you still only get three memorable shades: again white, gray and black.

At Origin we have a car that costs $20,000 more than a but has a significantly shorter range and slower reload speed. Go for the Afeela 1 Signature kit for $102,900 and you’re now spending more than which does have less range, but looks a lot better and will almost certainly be the more engaging drive.

Five years ago, Sony’s automotive aspirations led to a strange but intriguing project. Everything just seems wrong now. How will you feel in another 12 months when the first cars start rolling out of Honda’s Ohio plant? This is just a guess, but I can’t imagine that tomorrow’s market will look more kindly on this automotive curiosity.