Sony’s First EV Collab With Honda Comes With PS Distant Play in Tow

It was inevitable {that a} Sony-developed electrical car would have a heavy emphasis on the form of electronics it’s identified for, and now it’s official, we have now a automobile with PS Distant Play inbuilt.

The Afeela 1, an EV hatchback barely smaller than a Tesla Mannequin S, will get PS Remote Play for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 video games when it goes on sale subsequent yr, the partnership introduced final week. Whereas automobiles have beforehand integrated in-car streaming and gaming programs, like Stream being supplied on the Mannequin S and Mannequin X, that is the primary utility of Sony’s programs that can use the PlayStation platform.

The Afeela is the product of Sony Honda Mobility, with the electronics firm doing a lot of the in-car infotainment and electrical motor work, and Honda doing the manufacturing and, uh, car a part of it. The automobile can even be assembled at a Honda facility in Ohio. 

Whereas Sony has been brazenly speaking about producing a automobile since CES 2020, it introduced a take care of Honda to offer engineering and manufacturing work in 2022 and revealed a prototype mannequin at CES 2023. A detailed manufacturing model was proven earlier this yr.

Costs will begin at $102,000 when the automobiles arrive in the course of subsequent yr. An automatic driving system will likely be supplied utilizing lidar and radar, and the 91-kWh battery pack with two 180-kW electrical motors (about 480 horsepower) will supply as a lot as 300 miles of driving vary, in response to the corporate.

Different options embrace three screens in entrance for car info and an infotainment system, in addition to two screens for rear passengers, an AI assistant, and a “media bar” on the entrance instead of a grille the place homeowners can customise messages. Charging may also be carried out by Tesla’s Supercharger community.

A $200 reservation fee is required to carry a spot in line, however a less-expensive $89,000 base mannequin received’t begin manufacturing till 2027. It’s additionally solely out there to California residents for now, with most repairs dealt with remotely.