TOKYO, March 25 (Reuters) - Sony Honda Mobility, the

joint venture between Japanese electronics giant Sony ( SONY )

and carmaker Honda ( HMC ), said on Wednesday it would

discontinue the development of the Afeela electric vehicles.

Given Honda's ( HMC ) overhaul of its EV business announced earlier

this month, Sony Honda "does not have a viable path forward to

bring the (EV) models to market as originally planned", the

joint venture said in a statement.

Sony Honda will issue full refunds to those who have made

reservations for what was to be its first model, the Afeela 1,

in California, it added.