The Honda 0 Saloon and Honda 0 SUV. | Image: Honda
The vehicles will be underpinned by a new in-house-developed operating system named after Honda’s iconic Asimo robot.
At CES in Las Vegas today, Honda showed off its promised new battery-electric Honda Zero prototypes. The first is an SUV based on its Space-Hub concept, called the Honda 0 SUV. The second is a sedan based on its Saloon concept, called the Honda 0 Saloon.
Honda says the two new EVs will go into production sometime in 2026. And as if that weren’t enough, the new vehicles will be the first to feature the automaker’s new in-house-developed Asimo operating system.
Zero looks
Concepts and prototypes are hard to judge because they are typically more design-focused than what consumers will eventually see at their local dealers.
That being said, the Honda 0 SUV looks a bit like an ’80s-era dustbuster got together with a Volvo EX30, while the Honda 0 Saloon looks somewhat akin to an anteater. But in person, both look much better than I expected.
The SUV, in particular, appears much closer to a final production version and offers a unique rear cargo opening that includes two fold-down tables on either side. The Honda 0 Saloon is much swoopier, while still appearing similar to the Saloon concept that Honda showed off in 2024. Still, Honda toned it down, replacing the gull wing-style doors on the concept with more normal ones. A set of retro-style headlights blink open and look similar to Lamborghini Countach designs of the ’80s.
There’s something noticeably nostalgic about the design. When the doors of the Saloon are open, the yoke-style steering wheel rotates so that the driver can slide into the low-slung seat without getting snagged. And when the doors are closed, the yoke rotates back down. That’s possible because the Zero platform is drive-by-wire. (In the SUV, the yoke remains stationary.)
Both interiors still look highly prototyped, with a dash-sized screen stretching from pillar to pillar. It’s reminiscent of the forthcoming Afeela EV from Honda’s joint venture with Sony. (The Afeela also got a proper rollout this week.)
The exterior designs also have an element of the luxury automaker Lagonda, a brand owned by Aston Martin that has dipped in and out of existence over the years. One of the more polarizing designs that Aston brought to the market, the Aston Martin Lagonda Shooting Brake, looks very similar to the designs that Honda showed off at the show.
The Honda 0 SUV will be the first to go into production for the North American market in 2026 that Honda said it will build at its factory in Ohio. And it will likely drive similarly to the Honda Zero prototype CR-V that I drove in Japan in October.
The new operating system
Honda says Honda Zero embodies three principles: “thin, light, and wise.” At CES, Honda executives said they were focused on showing off the “wise” principle.
That includes a new, in-house-developed operating system called Asimo OS, named after the company’s Asimo humanoid robot from the early 2000s that was designed for “people’s daily lives.”
Honda retired Asimo in 2018 to focus on “more practical” applications. But the company retained a lot of information from the more than 33.26 million steps the robot took over its lifetime about some of the stumbling blocks and safety issues a fully autonomous robot would have to overcome. When Honda unveiled Asimo in 2000, it was widely heralded as both a beloved friend (which once played soccer with President Barack Obama and could autonomously recognize a human wave as well as moving objects) and a symbol of Japanese technological advancement.
As an icon of robotics, Honda decided to name its new operating system after Asimo. The new OS will allow for things like “ultra-personal optimization” of the digital experience as well as automated driving. Honda also said it plans to integrate the management of its electronic control units (ECUs) for the vehicle for better control of functions like suspension, braking, and handling.
Honda’s Zero vehicles will be equipped with Level 3 automated driving, which allows the driver to take their hands, feet, and attention off the road ahead, depending on the conditions. Currently, Honda only offers this feature on its Honda Legend sedan equipped with the company’s Sensing Elite tech, which is only available to lease in Japan.
Honda says that it will leverage its relationship with Helm.AI (a company that Honda invested more than $30 million in in 2022) as well as its own AI development to learn from “smaller amounts of data” so that its automated driving system can rapidly expand the range of conditions in which it can be used.
Honda said it wants to offer Level 3 autonomy in heavy traffic situations and expand the offerings from there via over-the-air updates. All Zero vehicles will have the option for this technology at an “affordable” price.
Honda did not give further details about pricing but did say that the system will allow occupants to watch videos or remotely join a meeting in the car when the Level 3 system is engaged.
All Honda Zero vehicles will come with this new OS and be updatable over the air. The system will also “learn” from and adapt to each “user.” Because, in the era of software-defined vehicles, there are no longer drivers and passengers, but users to “enhance the joy of driving.”
A new partner for Honda’s system-on-a-chip
Honda also announced a new partnership with Japanese semiconductor manufacturer Renesas to create a system-on-a-chip to cut down on the number of ECUs and handle more processing demand.
Most vehicles today have multiple ECUs handling different systems. Each one has to communicate to the other in milliseconds, which requires a lot of compute power. The more ECUs in a vehicle, the more wiring, the more code, and the more lag, so Honda is partnering with Renesas to create a single ECU for future Zero vehicles.
Honda says that its ECU will handle everything from ADAS to powertrain and comfort features as well as AI — and that this will require a chip that can handle all of that processing demand at once.
Honda’s move to bring this development more in-house is part of a wider trend of automakers moving away from off-the-shelf, plug-and-play-style options for their software needs. Instead, they’re developing bespoke ECUs, chips, and other components to handle the increasing demands of the software-defined vehicle, especially in light of AI adoption and autonomous driving systems.