This week, I took a ride in a prototype of Sony and Honda's future car at a shopping mall

For starters, who is this (prototype) electric car for? Why would they ditch the door handles and opt for a camera that would verify my identity before letting me inside? I can't believe there is no almost wall-to-wall touchscreen on the dashboard And is there really enough legroom for most people?

Most importantly, do Sony and Honda really expect people to buy these cars?

I am, of course, referring to the Afila, a prototype vehicle being developed by Sony Honda Mobility, which has been known to be a joint venture between the two companies since the prototype of Sony's Vision S electric car was unveiled at CES in 2020, but it will be announced at 2024 At CES, Sony executive Izumi Kawanishi used a PS5 controller to remotely control the Afila prototype on stage [This week I had the opportunity to sit in another Affira prototype at the Westfield Valley Fair mall in Santa Clara, and while the PS5-based features were not functional, everything else about this concept car felt quite real to a big guy like me, including the narrow legroom It was But hey, there's a reason I tend to drive SUVs

The version of the Afila we've seen so far is a prototype, not the final model, but Sony Honda Mobility plans to start taking reservations for this car in 2025 and ship it in 2026 And while we don't yet know how much this car will cost, the actual cost of this futuristic EV will not be cheap, given that company representatives scoffed and giggled when I quoted a starting price of $45,000

But how could it be when it is equipped with over 30 cameras inside and out, including a full LIDAR sensor array mounted on the roof? According to Sony Honda Mobility representatives, the car is capable of Level 3 autonomous driving on most roads and is theoretically safe to take your hands off the wheel and eyes off the road while the system is active

The Afila is designed to encourage this, and when operating with an Internet connection (perhaps via 5G or similar solution), it can stream videos and games to multiple screens in the car In addition to the touchscreen dashboard, two tablet-sized screens are mounted on the backs of the front seats, allowing rear-seat passengers access to the car's entertainment system

The Afila appears to have a fairly robust operating system with customizable elements such as dashboards and accounts The model I demoed did not have any PS5 features running, but the goal is to allow PS5 owners to remotely stream games to their cars via Remote Play Sony Honda Mobility is also working on ways to combine the car's camera system and built-in screen to overlay graphics and other fun details on real-world data, such as maps

Tapping and swiping through the car's OS is uncharted territory for me, but before showing a huge real-time display screen of Google Maps, a company representative showed me the Affira's OS theme (PS5 games like "Horizon Forbidden West" including the one featuring), I saw him changing a few of them I was intrigued when he put on a Gran Turismo movie and started watching it on the dashboard while the car's 360-degree sound system started up I got out of the car when he launched his Karaoke app and started singing Imagine Dragons

But I was intrigued I love cars and don't want to give up the joy of driving a manual car, but I also love trees and the earth and don't want to spend hundreds of dollars a month on gas [If autonomous driving becomes a reality, there will be less wasted money, less damage to the planet, and maybe less time spent swearing in traffic jams In a way, the prototypes of Sony and Honda's Afira make that future even more exciting [Because much of the fun of driving a manual is doing something with both hands during a long trip But if a future like the Jetsons's comes along, where the car will drop you off at work in the morning, I can see the appeal of owning an Afila

However, I just can't get excited about a future car without door handles What if the driver's side camera breaks and I can't get in, or an OS update freezes and locks up the entire car?

I expect Sony Honda Mobility to have some answers by 2026 and production grade Affira EVs will roll off the line and into garages across the country When that happens, we'll probably see more people playing "God of War/Ragnarok" on their commute to work