Mere weeks after officially debuting its AFEELA EV in front of crowds at CES, the joint venture between Sony and Honda has a unique strategy for how its future customers will be able to afford it. Although we don’t yet know the EV’s starting MSRP, Sony Honda Mobility is already admitting it’s “a bit expensive” due in part to all the technology it will come equipped with to ensure its longevity (hint hint).
Despite Sony bringing some form of a vehicle presence to CES in Las Vegas the past four years, the most recent event felt like the first time an EV with Sony’s DNA could become an genuine consumer model, thanks to a collaboration with Honda announced in March of 2022.
Those initial discussions evolved into an official joint venture called Sony Honda Mobility Inc., which was officially signed over the summer and is expected to bring an EV to several global markets by 2026. Honda will provide its e:Architecture for the JV to build upon, while Sony Mobility Inc. will call in favors to parent Sony Corp. for access to its software and sensor technology. Not to mention its vast catalog of music and video content (ever heard of Ghostbusters?).
At CES, we got our first official look at the EV from the Sony Honda joint venture, which will exist as part of a new automotive brand called AFEELA. Loaded with advanced technology including 45 different sensors, Sony and Honda expect AFEELA to be an EV customers enjoy and keep fresh for years.
Perhaps up to an entire decade? That might be the best way to justify its pending price tag.
Sony Honda Mobility wants you to lease its EV for ten years
When the AFEELA EV begins sales in 2025, Sony Honda Mobility Chairman and CEO Yasuhide Mizuno believes the best route for customers will be a lease, but not your typical three-year option. He spoke to journalists following the CES reveal:
Replacing the car every three to five years is a very traditional methodology. But now, big change. This car is always updating; therefore, we try to utilize customers over five to 10 years.
Ten years is one hell of a commitment for a vehicle you’re not necessarily buying equity in, but the Japanese joint venture thinks AFEELA will have the necessary tech and computing power to stay relevant well into the 2030s.
In addition to the 45 sensors previously mentioned, Mizuno stated that the upcoming EV will come with an 800 trillion operations per second (TOPS) chip from Qualcomm, capable enough to enable Level 3 and Level 4 autonomous driving (if and when those levels become more safe and regulated for widespread use).
An 800 TOPS chip is a ridiculous amount of computing power considering most EVs are currently using chips in the double-digits in terms of TOPS, part of the reason why the joint venture is expecting a fairly high starting price. Per Mizuno:
The car itself is a bit expensive, but subscription payments are not so damaging.
So… rather than pay more money up front to own the EV, you can lease it for ten years? That strategy makes sense to an extent, especially given the computing power and ability for Level 4 autonomous driving being promised, but wouldn’t be easier to make 5-6 years of payments to own the vehicle, than enjoy 4-5 years without a car payment?
Additionally, Sony Honda Mobility Inc. states that future AFEELA customers can refuse updates to their EV to pay less on their lease each month, but if they want their vehicle to stay up-to-date, they must pay the same monthly fee for the entirety of the lease, even as the car drifts further from being shiny and new.
All in all, this remains a tough decision to even fathom given that we have zero inclination of where the Sony Honda EV might start on the price scale.
Looking ahead, Mizuno said the first AFEELA EV will likely be built in the US at a new manufacturing facility Honda is planning to erect in Ohio. Mizuno also stated that the joint venture is planning an entire EV lineup and the AFEELA sedan eventually be joined by an electric SUV next, followed by a second sedan or possible minivan.
The AFEELA EV is expect to go on sale in the US and Japan in mid- to late-2026, followed by Europe by late-2026, early-2027.
Electrek’s Take
I don’t know. I’m in my second three-year lease and feel like that’s plenty of time for the industry to innovate past a given model and get a consumer’s eyes wandering onto what may be next.
Just look at how far EVs in particular have evolved since 2019. Look how many new models there are from many more automakers young and old, not to mention advanced charging capabilities and emerging technologies that could be an industry-wide game changer like solid-state batteries.
That’s a big ask from a joint venture that is looking to reach production on its first ever EV together. It’s not like Honda has BEVs down pat yet, either. It’s practically in R&D phase when it comes to that technology. I’m sure the infotainment and content options will be great from Sony, but cars are a whole other monster, even when considering the fact that EVs are more like computers than ever.
What are the chances these two companies hit it out of the park on their first try? Enough so that consumers keep theirs for ten years without technically owning it?
I’m not saying people won’t commit to a five to ten year lease for an AFEELA EV, I just wonder how many of them see it through maturation, or how many of them bow out early for something newer that goes farther.
I’d be remiss to not mention that I am happy to see this joint venture, despite its brand nomenclature (not AFEELIN it at all), develop something that seems viable and looks sleek. But let’s see how much this thing actually costs.
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Saudi Aramco’s Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal
Ahmed Jadallah | Reuters
Saudi state oil giant Aramco reported a 15.4% drop in net profit in the third-quarter on the back of “lower crude oil prices and weakening refining margins,” but maintained a 31.05 billion dividend.
The company reported net income of $27.56 billion in the July-September period, topping a company-provided estimate of $26.9 billion. The print is also a 5% drop from the previous quarter, which came in at $29.1 billion, as lower global oil prices, weaker demand and prolonged OPEC+ production cuts led by Saudi Arabia continue to impact crude prices.
The average selling price of oil for the second quarter of 2024 stood at $85 per barrel, but dropped to $78.7 per barrel during the third quarter, according to Saudi-based bank Al Rajhi capital, as non-OPEC supply volumes grew.
The oil firm said its year-on-year decline was partly offset by a “reduction in selling, administrative and general expenses primarily driven by a gain from derivative instruments, and a decrease in production royalties largely reflecting lower crude oil prices and a lower average effective royalty rate compared to the same quarter last year.”
Aramco’s dividend includes a base payout of $20.3 billion and an atypical performance-linked one of $10.8 billion. The Saudi government and the kingdom’s sovereign wealth vehicle, the Public Investment Fund, are the main beneficiaries of the dividend, holding stakes of roughly 81.5% and 16% in the company.
The remaining shareholding trades freely on Saudi Arabia’s Tadāwul stock exchange, with the company having finalized its second public share offering back in June.
Aramco’s earnings before Interest and Taxes (EBIT) came in at $51.45 billion in the third quarter, down 17% year-on-year. Aramco’s capital expenditure guidance was brought up 20% to $13.23 billion.
The company was trading at 27.45 riyals following the announcement, down 0.18% on the previous day.
The earnings align with a broader trend across oil majors, whose third-quarter profits have also suffered from declines in crude prices and refining margins. Aramco said it achieved average realized crude price of $79.3 per barrel in the third quarter, compared with $89.3 per barrel in the same period of last year.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude exporter who produces roughly 9 million barrels per day of crude at present, serves as the de facto leader of the OPEC+ oil producers’ alliance, a subset of whom agreed over the weekend to delay a planned December output hike by one month.
“Aramco delivered robust net income and generated strong free cash flow during the third quarter, despite a lower oil price environment,” CEO Amin Nasser said in a statement. “We also progressed our upstream developments, strengthened our downstream value chain, and advanced our new energies program as we continue to invest through cycles.”
The revenues will be a boon to the Saudi economy, which is currently undergoing a diversification process under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s legacy Vision 2030 scheme spanning a slew of high-cost infrastructure “gigaprojects.”
Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Finance cut the kingdom’s growth forecast to 0.8% in 2024, in a steep decline from a previous projection of 4.4%, and raised the outlook for the national budgetary shortfall to roughly 2.9% of GDP, from a prior indication of 1.9%.
On today’s episode of Quick Charge, Tesla’s Cybertruck is now available in Canada – and, like in the US, there’s no waiting! Plus, we’ve got an “actually” smart summon Tesla that’s actually stuck, GM reaches a sales milestone, and we get a brand-new title sponsor!
Today’s episode is the first with our new title sponsor, BLUETTI – a leading provider of portable power stations, solar generators, and energy storage systems.
New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded, usually, Monday through Thursday (and sometimes Sunday). We’ll be posting bonusLucid proves than an EV company can keep its promises while Xiaomi teams up with Chevrolet and Honda to prove – at least conceptually – that records are made to be broken. audio content from time to time as well, so be sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of Electrek’s high-voltage daily news!
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Mobile car care company Yoshi Mobility launched a DC fast charging EV mobile unit that it likens to “a supercharger on wheels.”
November 4, 2024 update: Yoshi Mobility will only be charging EVs on the side of the road now – it announced today that it’s selling its fleet fueling operation to EZFill Holdings (Nasdaq: EZFL).
It was originally founded as a direct-to-consumer, mobile fueling business in 2016, but now it’s going to focus on mobile EV charging, virtual vehicle inspections for partners like Uber and Turo, and onsite preventative maintenance.
Bryan Frist, Yoshi Mobility’s CEO & cofounder, said, “By spinning off our fuel business and focusing all of our energy on solving hair-on-fire problems that fleet owners face, we are meeting the changing needs of enterprise customers while making the future of transportation safer, cleaner, and more sustainable.”
May 22, 2024: Yoshi Mobility saw that its existing customers needed mobile EV charging in places where infrastructure has yet to be installed, so the Nashville-based company decided to bring the mountain to Moses.
“We recognized a demand among our customers for convenient daily charging, reliable private charging networks, and proper charging infrastructure to support their fleet vehicles as they transition to electric,” said Dan Hunter, Yoshi Mobility’s chief EV officer and cofounder.
The company says its 240 kW mobile DC fast charger, which can turn “any EV” into a mobile charging unit, is the first fully electric mobile charger available. It can provide multiple charges in a single trip but doesn’t detail how they charge the DC fast charger or who manufactured it. (I asked for more details, and they replied that they won’t disclose client names or the manufacturer of its DC fast charger yet.)
Yoshi is launching its mobile charger on two GM BrightDrop Zevo 600s and will introduce additional vehicles throughout 2024. It aims for full commercialization by Q1 2025. (I wonder if the Zevo 600 ever charges itself? Yes, I asked that too.)
Yoshi Mobility says it’s already deployed its EV charging solutions to service “major OEMs, autonomous vehicle companies, and rideshare operators” across the US. Its initial customers are made up of large EV operators managing “hundreds” of light-duty vehicles requiring up to 1 megawatt of energy per day that don’t yet have grid-connected EV chargers. I’ve asked Yoshi for details of who it’s working with, and will update if they share that info.
The company says pricing is based on location and enterprise charging needs. Once under contract for service, the service will be deployed to US-based customers within 10 days.
To date, Yoshi Mobility has raised more than $60 million, with investments from GM Ventures, Bridgestone, ExxonMobil, and Y-Combinator in Silicon Valley.
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