Sony Pulls the Plug on Its Electric Car Dream

Sony and Honda have dissolved their EV partnership. The two brands, under the Sony Honda Mobility name, were developing two EVs, a sedan and an SUV, with the former already in the later stages of production. The two began their partnership in 2022, but Sony showed off early concepts for a sedan and SUV in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Now, both are dead.

Honda and Sony are the latest to follow a growing trend of EV cancellations following a slump in demand across the US. Demand was in part helped by federal subsidies, which encouraged buyers to get into lower-emissions EVs through tax incentives at the state and federal levels. Federal tax incentives, however, fell when President Trump began his first year in office following reelection, while some states do still offer incentives. Since federal subsidies ended, demand has plummeted while consumers shift towards gasoline-powered hybrids and solely gas-powered vehicles.

Automakers have responded in turn by rapidly moving to suspend, cancel, push back, or otherwise move away from electrified vehicles. Honda itself, just weeks ago, announced the cancellation of its Honda 0 sedan and SUV, as well as the Acura RSX and ZDX crossovers. Honda isn't alone. Hyundai has killed the Ioniq 6 sedan, its luxury-focused Electrified G80, Ram killed its electric 1500 truck, Volvo just ended its EX30 (only in the US), and too many other EVs to count.

It appears the deaths of the Honda 0 pair of EVs led directly to the end of the project with Sony: "...as a result of Honda’s reassessment of its automobile electrification strategy announced on March 12, 2026, SHM will not be able to utilize certain technologies and assets that were originally planned to be provided by Honda at the time of SHM’s initial business planning. In light of this change, SHM has determined that it does not have a viable path forward to bring the Models to market as originally planned."

Honda and Sony had begun taking reservations for the Afeela sedan, but the press release confirming the end of the two EVs stated that reservation fees will be fully refunded. As for the partnership itself, Honda and Sony said that Sony Honda mobility will "continue discussions" with its parent companies about "future business plans."