These Honda 0 Series Prototypes Are Another Glimpse At Honda’s EV Future

These days, Las Vegas’ Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is as much of a motor show as anything Detroit, Frankfurt or Tokyo can offer, an annual flurry of announcements and reveals in the field of EVs. That’s why it’s the venue for the unveiling of the duo of Honda 0 Series prototypes you see before you.

The 0 Series is Honda’s newest attempt to properly crack the EV market after the loveable but flawed Honda e barely lasted three years in Europe and Japan and its collaboration with GM in North America fizzled out after one car – the Prologue. Oh, there’s the e:Ny1 too, but good luck trying to recall what it even looks like.

That’s not going to be a problem with either of these prototypes, which will morph into production cars in 2026. The lower, wedgier one is the 0 Saloon, and it’s a development of the original concept we saw at CES a year ago. It looks perhaps a little bit closer to a viable production car here, but it’s still like something made for a street scene in a film set 25 years into the future.

Newly revealed is the 0 SUV, which looks, well, like an SUV. It takes some cues, like its blocky rear end, from last year’s van-ish Space-Hub concept, but transfers them into a shape that consumers actually like – a mid-sized SUV. With that simply enormous C-pillar, though, it still looks, erm, unique.

How much of these concepts’ styling will actually make its way onto next year’s production cars remains a mystery, although we suspect the SUV is closer to reality than the Saloon. Both will be based on a completely new, EV-only architecture being developed by Honda around the principles of ‘thin, light and wise’, which is certainly a refreshing approach in a world where cars seem to be getting increasingly fat, heavy and foolish.

This, naturally, is promised to carry all the latest of-the-moment driver-assist tech, with plans to allow for up to Level 3 autonomous driving. That’s the level that allows you to join a Teams call, and then swipe through Instagram or TikTok while pretending to be paying attention to the Teams call, while the car is driving itself, although it’s something that’s currently only legal in very limited circumstances in a small number of countries.

Autonomous driving, the AI that controls it, and the infotainment system will all be run through Asimo OS, a bespoke new operating system named after Honda’s now-deceased staircase-fearing robot.

You may have noticed there’s lots of talk here about AI, autonomy, and operating systems, but there is nothing on powertrain, range, or performance. That’s because the techy stuff is what matters more to the people going to CES. For what it’s worth, Honda isn’t totally abandoning car people – it’s working on software to potentially allow drivers to replicate the feeling of driving a combustion-powered car, right down to simulated shifts and vibrations.