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The Morning After: Sony and Honda’s debut EV is dead before it even arrived

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Why This Matters

The discontinuation of Honda and Sony's Afeela electric vehicles highlights the challenges new entrants face in the competitive EV market, especially amid regulatory and economic pressures. This development underscores the importance of strategic planning and market readiness for tech-driven automotive collaborations, impacting both industry innovation and consumer expectations.

Key Takeaways

Honda and Sony announced that they are discontinuing both the Afeela 1 and 2, their electric cars. The company is reviewing its “business direction,” but it's hard to expect much from a car company that’s cancelled all of its cars.

The Afeela 1, casually called the PlayStation Car, was meant to be a fusion of a modern EV and your own digital media bubble. (You could have a God of War-themed dash — if you wanted that.)

Engadget

There’s a wider pressure on Honda, beyond this risky collaboration with Sony. It expects to take a $15.7 billion loss after writing off a large portion of its EV investment. The US’s removal of federal EV tax credits and the imposition of tariffs have hit everything hard.

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The Afeela was exciting on paper, but in person, it was a pretty unassuming sedan. And expensive! Rival EV makers were offering more for less. Also: don’t tease a car for six full years. It’s never a good sign. Check out Tim Steven’s editorial on how it all fell apart.

– Mat Smith

The other big stories (and deals) this morning

TikTok and Snap settled ahead of the trial. Smart.

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