The Aphela 1 Production has been halted on a sedan that was scheduled to begin production this year and a closely related SUV that was scheduled to follow in 2028. They are victims of a cooling electric vehicle market in the U.S. and Honda’s decision earlier this month to cancel three electric vehicles it planned to build in Ohio.
In a statement released by Sony and Honda, the companies said the discontinuation of the Honda 0 Saloon, 0 SUV and Acura RSX had “fundamentally changed” some of the “fundamental assumptions” of Sony Honda Mobility’s business model, including the use of “certain technologies and assets” from Honda.
Although the Afeela 1 sedan and accompanying SUV will no longer exist, Sony Honda Mobility – the joint venture company officially responsible for the development, engineering and sales of Afeela-branded electric vehicles – is not dead yet.
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Sony and Honda say they will review Sony Honda Mobility’s “business direction” and plan to announce its “medium to long-term positioning” at the “earliest possible date.”
Given the decline in sales after the Trump administration ended the $7,500 (AUD$10,800) federal electric vehicle tax credit in September 2025, it appears that if Sony Honda Mobility wants to continue, it will have to pivot to China or abandon its all-electric vehicle philosophy.
Sony began publicly toying with the idea of ​​becoming an automaker when it unveiled the attractive Vision-S EV concept at CES 2020. After several years of refining the concept, Sony formed a joint venture with Honda to help develop and produce electric vehicles under the Afeela brand.
The Afeela 1 was introduced in near-production form in 2025 and was expected to enter production in the middle of this year at Honda’s East Liberty plant, just 8 miles from the Marysville factory where the now-discontinued Honda 0-series electric vehicles will be produced.
The 4915 mm long sedan featured a 360 kW dual-motor all-wheel drive and a 91 kWh lithium-ion battery. Based on the EPA testing procedure, it had an estimated range of 483 km and supported DC fast charging of up to 150 kW.
Prices should start at $89,900 (AUD$129,000). To illustrate, in the US, the average transaction price for a new car is around US$50,000 (A$72,000), and the base model Lucid Air, which has similar performance but a range of 673km, starts at US$70,900 (A$102,000).
At CES 2026, Afeela presented a very sophisticated concept that previewed an SUV with production scheduled for 2028.
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