The Sony Honda Mobility’s AFEELA 1 is only starting to deliver this year, but there is already an AFEELA Prototype 2026. Making its world premiere at CES 2026, the production model of the next AFEELA is expected to arrive as early as 2028. If this feels a little premature, welcome to the world of tech companies building cars.
At CES 2026, Sony Honda Mobility laid out its vision for what it calls “Mobility as a Creative Entertainment Space,” which is a long way of saying the car is no longer just about driving. The company used the show to do three things at once. Reassure everyone that AFEELA 1 is real and coming. Show off how far along the production pipeline already is. And quietly tease what comes next with the AFEELA Prototype 2026.
Let’s get the current car out of the way first. AFEELA 1 is the first production model from Sony Honda Mobility, with customer deliveries in California scheduled to begin in 2026. Trial production has already been completed at Honda’s East Liberty Auto Plant in Ohio, and more than 100,000 people have already poked, prodded, and sat inside AFEELA demos over the past year. Sales are set to expand to Arizona in 2027, with Japan following shortly after. In other words, this thing is no longer a concept car with mood lighting and promises.
AFEELA 1 also sets the tone for what Sony Honda Mobility wants its cars to be. The vehicle is positioned less as a machine you drive and more as a space you inhabit. AFEELA Intelligent Drive starts at Level 2+ driver assistance, with ambitions that stretch toward Level 4-equivalent capabilities down the road. The idea is simple. If the car is doing more of the driving, the people inside can do more of everything else.
That is where the AFEELA Personal Agent comes in. Powered by Microsoft Azure OpenAI services, it is designed to deliver conversational interactions that feel more personal and less robotic. Pair that with Sony’s entertainment DNA, cloud connectivity, and a future electrical architecture built around Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Digital Chassis, and you start to see what Sony Honda Mobility is aiming for. A car that behaves more like a platform than a vehicle.
Then there is the forward-looking stuff. Sony Honda Mobility announced the AFEELA Co-Creation Program, which opens up development tools for creators interested in building in-vehicle entertainment, themes, and apps. There is also talk of an open, on-chain mobility service platform using token-based incentives. Whether that last bit becomes revolutionary or quietly disappears will be something future CES keynotes will answer.
Now to the actual new thing. AFEELA Prototype 2026 builds on the core concept of AFEELA 1 but pushes it further. Sony Honda Mobility says it offers greater spatial flexibility and accessibility to deliver joy to a broader range of users. Translation. Expect a different body style, more usable interior space, and a design that reflects what the company has learned from building AFEELA 1 for real people, not just show floors.
A production model based on the AFEELA Prototype 2026 is planned for the U.S. market as early as 2028. That timeline may feel long, but in car years, it is practically tomorrow.
Sony Honda Mobility is clearly playing the long game here. AFEELA 1 proves it can build and deliver a car. The Prototype 2026 shows where things are headed next. Somewhere between gaming console logic, cloud software, and Honda’s manufacturing discipline, Sony is trying to redefine what a modern car is supposed to be.
Whether that vision clicks with buyers remains to be seen. But one thing is clear. Sony Honda Mobility is not waiting around to find out.
Images: Sony Honda Mobility.
