Sony Honda: Not Afeela It

News this week on the electric vehicle (EV) front may have reminded one of the rather mean spirited admonishment from Steve Martin's character in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles: "When you're telling these little stories, have a point." That's the primary lesson to be learned from the demise of the Sony Honda Afeela.

The Sony Afeela 1 was regularly ballyhooed at CES, the massive trade show in Las Vegas once dominated by the consumer electronics company, and much like the Apple car, it was cause for some, well, not excitement, but let's say "speculation" about the future of the personal vehicle. But in spite of repeated showings, one never got the gist of a story from the Afeela. It didn't deliver cutting edge technology. It didn't deliver a knock-your-socks-off chassis. And priced closer to a Lucid than a Hyundai, it didn't boast a mass-appeal price.

Decidedly NOT the Afeela, the Honda O Series was also cancelled.

Yes, cancellation of Honda's EV building plans in the U.S. certainly put the nail in the coffin of the Afeela. But if the car had offered something unique, something to capture the imagination of shoppers, some way would have been found to build the thing. But its overall design was lackluster and offering a spiffy in-car infotainment system wasn't enough to pique many people's interest.

Two great companies joining hands should be able to create a truly great product. On the other hand, there's the Time Warner AOL deal to consider. We're betting Honda is still going to create some stupendous new EVs going forward. But since it also cancelled the fascinating O Series Saloon, we're just going to have to wait until a new administration comes along.

Here's the terse Afeela announcement.