Sony Honda Mobility (SHM) announced that it has conducted trial production runs of its first electric vehicle (EV), AFEELA 1, using the production line at the East Liberty Auto Plant operated by Honda Development & Manufacturing of America. The trial production was conducted as part of preparations for mass production in the United States.
SHM also announced the establishment of a Quality Gate inspection facility in East Liberty, Ohio, to perform additional inspections on vehicles manufactured in accordance with SHM specifications and Honda’s existing quality checks.
The Quality Gate facility adds an additional inspection and validation step beyond traditional end-of-line automotive quality processes.
- Inspections are conducted from two primary perspectives: Functional inspection, which verifies operation of intelligent vehicle systems such as infotainment, sensors, and connectivity stability
- Exterior inspection, which evaluates surface continuity, reflection uniformity, and color accuracy
Data collected at the facility is fed back to SHM’s vehicle design teams and to manufacturing operations at the East Liberty Auto Plant to support production quality stabilization and continuous improvement.
The production of AFEELA 1 requires the integration of conventional manufacturing quality with the requirements of a software- and sensor-intensive EV. The vehicle incorporates approximately 40 sensors, panoramic display systems, in-vehicle applications, and AI-enabled connectivity technologies, increasing the importance of system-level validation alongside mechanical and cosmetic inspection.
Filed Under: Software, Technology News