Man travels to California to check out the Sony Afeela EV and immediately realizes why it costs $100,000

When Sony set up a partnership with Honda to launch a new EV called the Afeela, available solely in California, people raised their eyebrows twice.

First, when they heard the words ‘Sony’ and ‘car’ in the same sentence.

And second, when they heard the price.

After seeing it in person in California, though, this guy thinks he’s found the answer.

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Why Sony is building a car

Modern cars are software-based.

They have a lot more in common with a smartphone than with a car from 30 years ago.

That’s the reason why so many tech giants – from Huawei to Xiaomi and indeed Sony – are building cars.

Sony Afeela is a peculiar example, mainly because it occupies a totally different segment of the market.

It is exclusively available in California (for now), and it’s marketed as a luxury car.

And the price reflects that.

It stars at $89,900 but you can easily go over the six-figure mark depending on how you spec it.

It’s a lot of money, but after being able to experience one ‘in the metal’, we get why.

It’s expensive, but you do get a lot of bang for your buck

Performance-wise, you get 482hp coming from two motors (one on each axle), and 300 miles (500 kilometers) of range.

But if you want to understand where your money goes, you need to step inside.

The rear view mirror can be digital, or analog, whichever way you want it, and the same goes for the side mirrors – and it’s all projected on the 3D dashboard.

And speaking of dashboards, the Afeela comes with a wraparound screen at the front, and two screens on the headrests for rear passengers.

Obviously, there’s a lot of Sony tech embedded into the system, which means you can Play GranTurismo while the car is parked.

In addition to its two engines, the car is also powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip that allows the car to perform 800 trillion operations per second, like a self-driving car, which this one can be, by the way.

Afeela uses 40+ sensors, including 18 cameras and a roof-mounted LiDAR.

And everything from the powertrain to the infotainment system and even ride feel is digital, and gets continuously upgraded like a smartphone.

Not only that, the car ‘learns’ as you drive along, which means that it gradually improves things like steering precision, cornering, and throttle response based on feedback.

As far as tech goes, the Afeela is one of the most advanced vehicles on the road.