Honda Zero Is Ready To Blast Off With All-new Sedan And Suv Evs

At CES successful Las Vegas today, Honda showed disconnected its promised caller battery-electric Honda Zero prototypes. The first is an SUV based connected its Space-Hub concept, called nan Honda 0 SUV. The 2nd is simply a sedan based connected its Saloon concept, called nan Honda 0 Saloon. 

Honda says nan 2 caller EVs will spell into accumulation sometime successful 2026. And arsenic if that weren’t enough, nan caller vehicles will beryllium nan first to characteristic nan automaker’s caller in-house-developed Asimo operating system.

Zero looks

Concepts and prototypes are difficult to judge because they are typically overmuch design-focused than what consumers will yet spot astatine their conception dealers. 

That being said, nan Honda 0 SUV looks a spot for illustration an ’80s-era dustbuster sewage together pinch a Volvo EX30, while nan Honda 0 Saloon looks somewhat akin to an anteater. But successful person, immoderate look overmuch amended than I expected. 

The SUV, successful particular, appears overmuch personification to a past accumulation type and offers a unsocial rear cargo opening that includes 2 fold-down tables connected either side. The Honda 0 Saloon is overmuch swoopier, while still appearing akin to nan Saloon conception that Honda showed disconnected successful 2024. Still, Honda toned it down, replacing nan gull wing-style doors connected nan conception pinch overmuch normal ones. A group of retro-style headlights blink unfastened and look akin to Lamborghini Countach designs of nan ’80s. 

There’s point noticeably nostalgic astir nan design. When nan doors of nan Saloon are open, nan yoke-style steering instrumentality rotates truthful that nan driver tin descent into nan low-slung spot without getting snagged. And erstwhile nan doors are closed, nan yoke rotates backmost down. That’s imaginable because nan Zero level is drive-by-wire. (In nan SUV, nan yoke remains stationary.) 

Both interiors still look highly prototyped, pinch a dash-sized aboveground stretching from pillar to pillar. It’s reminiscent of nan forthcoming Afeela EV from Honda’s associated task pinch Sony. (The Afeela too sewage a owed rollout this week.)

The exterior designs too personification an constituent of nan luxury automaker Lagonda, a marque owned by Aston Martin that has dipped successful and retired of beingness complete nan years. One of nan overmuch polarizing designs that Aston brought to nan market, nan Aston Martin Lagonda Shooting Brake, looks very akin to nan designs that Honda showed disconnected astatine nan show. 

The Honda 0 SUV will beryllium nan first to spell into accumulation for nan North American marketplace successful 2026 that Honda said it will build astatine its mill successful Ohio. And it will apt thrust likewise to nan Honda Zero prototype CR-V that I drove successful Japan successful October.  

The caller operating system

Honda says Honda Zero embodies 3 principles: “thin, light, and wise.” At CES, Honda executives said they were focused connected showing disconnected nan “wise” principle. 

That includes a new, in-house-developed operating strategy called Asimo OS, named aft nan company’s Asimo humanoid robot from nan early 2000s that was designed for “people’s regular lives.”

Honda retired Asimo successful 2018 to attraction connected “more practical” applications. But nan institution retained a batch of accusation from nan overmuch than 33.26 cardinal steps nan robot took complete its life astir immoderate of nan stumbling blocks and accusation issues a afloat autonomous robot would personification to overcome. When Honda unveiled Asimo successful 2000, it was wide heralded arsenic immoderate a beloved friend (which erstwhile played changeable pinch President Barack Obama and could autonomously admit a value activity arsenic bully arsenic moving objects) and a awesome of Japanese technological advancement.  

As an icon of robotics, Honda decided to punishment its caller operating strategy aft Asimo. The caller OS will fto for things for illustration “ultra-personal optimization” of nan integer acquisition arsenic bully arsenic automated driving. Honda too said it plans to merge nan guidance of its physics powerfulness units (ECUs) for nan conveyance for amended powerfulness of functions for illustration suspension, braking, and handling. 

Honda’s Zero vehicles will beryllium equipped pinch Level 3 automated driving, which allows nan driver to return their hands, feet, and attraction disconnected nan roadworthy ahead, depending connected nan conditions. Currently, Honda only offers this characteristic connected its Honda Legend sedan equipped pinch nan company’s Sensing Elite tech, which is only disposable to lease successful Japan. 

Honda says that it will leverage its narration pinch Helm.AI (a institution that Honda invested overmuch than $30 cardinal successful successful 2022) arsenic bully arsenic its ain AI betterment to study from “smaller amounts of data” truthful that its automated driving strategy tin quickly turn nan scope of conditions successful which it tin beryllium used. 

Honda said it wants to relationship Level 3 autonomy successful dense postulation situations and turn nan offerings from location via over-the-air updates. All Zero vehicles will personification nan action for this exertion astatine an “affordable” price. 

Honda did not springiness further specifications astir pricing but did opportunity that nan strategy will fto occupants to watch videos aliases remotely subordinate a gathering successful nan car erstwhile nan Level 3 strategy is engaged. 

All Honda Zero vehicles will recreation pinch this caller OS and beryllium updatable complete nan air. The strategy will too “learn” from and accommodate to each “user.” Because, successful nan era of software-defined vehicles, location are nary longer drivers and passengers, but users to “enhance nan joyousness of driving.”

A caller partner for Honda’s system-on-a-chip

Honda too announced a caller business pinch Japanese semiconductor manufacturer  Renesas to create a system-on-a-chip to trim down connected nan number of ECUs and grip overmuch processing demand. 

Most vehicles coming personification aggregate ECUs handling different systems. Each 1 has to walk to nan different successful milliseconds, which requires a batch of compute power. The overmuch ECUs successful a vehicle, nan overmuch wiring, nan overmuch code, and nan overmuch lag, truthful Honda is partnering pinch Renesas to create a azygous ECU for early Zero vehicles. 

Honda says that its ECU will grip everything from ADAS to powertrain and comfortableness features arsenic bully arsenic AI — and that this will require a spot that tin grip each of that processing petition astatine once. 

Honda’s move to bring this betterment overmuch in-house is information of a wider inclination of automakers moving distant from off-the-shelf, plug-and-play-style options for their package needs. Instead, they’re processing bespoke ECUs, chips, and different components to grip nan expanding demands of nan software-defined vehicle, peculiarly successful ray of AI return and autonomous driving systems.