Honda is following up on the Prologue SUV with two “thin, light and wise” EVs.
It’s been a fantastic week if you’re a tech nerd, and the wave of news continues with Honda’s showcase at CES in Las Vegas. Meet the “0 Series”, a duo of electric concepts aimed to kick off the brand’s next-generation EV portfolio in 2026. And yes, the “Saloon” (shown below) will be coming to the U.S., followed by model introductions in other markets across the globe, like the aptly named “Space-Hub” above.
“We will create a completely new value from zero,” says Honda’s global CEO Toshihiro Mibe. The 0 EV Series promises to be thin, light and wise, though the details on what technical elements Honda will leverage to make that a reality are, as you’d expect at this early stage, frustratingly vague. The company will develop these two models using the M/M philosophy (or man maximum/machine minium). That translates to low, airy and spacious concepts that still keep human drivers at the forefront of the experience.
That’s not to say the Honda 0 Saloon or Space-Hub will lack automated driving features. Honda stresses the cars will still include “advanced AI, sensing, recognition, and driver monitoring technologies to achieve more human-like, natural and high-risk predictions.” While saying this technology will generally improve the application of hands-off functions on highways and surface streets, akin to Tesla’s Autopilot or GM’s Super Cruise systems, the company crafted its statement to suggest the ADAS functions will be there more as a backup for human input, rather than completely removing actual drivers from the equation.
Again, details on how these technologies will come about and how they’re different from Hondas we know today are thin. The Saloon will utilize a steer-by-wire system and “motion control management” systems, utilizing the company’s decades of robotics experience. Another term Honda pitches is posture control, which will somehow assist the driver to “realize the ‘joy of driving’ in the EV era.”
As for the Honda 0 Space-Hub, what we’re looking at here perhaps best boils down to a hyper-futuristic take on an Odyssey. Honda calls it a “flexible space that immediately accommodates a variety of passengers and becomes a ‘hub'” (hence the name). Furthermore, it “connects people to each other and the outside world”, since one of the common themes among this year’s CES reveals is all the connected software coming down the pike.
More tech, more efficiency
While Honda will undoubtedly dial things back a bit for the actual production model (don’t count on gullwing doors), at least the Saloon and Space-Hub do indeed make some nods to familiar controls. Integrating a yoke makes some sense given the steer-by-wire setup, though we’ll have to see if that actually makes it to production.
One number that did stand out in Honda’s presentation and statement hit on charging times. The Honda 0 Series EVs will utilize “e-Axle” drive units as well as high-density battery packs. No specs on either of those, naturally, but Honda does say these late-2020s cars will fast-charge from 15% to 80% in “about 10-15 minutes”. The company is also targeting less than 10% battery degradation after 10 years of use, effectively targeting the major concerns most folks level at current electric cars, though we’ll have to see what actually makes it to production in the next couple years.
Finally, you might have noticed the H badge throughout each concept. The automaker says it represents their commitment to the next-generation EVs and will exclusively feature on those models when they make it to production later in the decade. We’ll most likely see that badge on something far more conventional when the production-spec cars debut, but much of what Honda says sounds promising. Now we just need to see if the cars you and I will actually buy follow through on all the promises.
