Honda 0 SUV and 0 Saloon to be launched in 2026 - including Europe
Near-series mid-size SUV and wedge-shaped saloon presented at the CES
In addition to the Afeela 1, Honda is also showing two design studies from the 0 Series at CES. The wedge-shaped 0 Saloon does not yet appear to be ready for series production. In contrast, the 0 SUV already looks almost like a production car. According to Honda, both models will go into production from 2026 at the existing Honda plant in Ohio. The market launch is also planned for 2026, initially in North America and later in Europe.
The 0 SUV, which according to Honda is a "medium-sized" electric SUV, has already been announced for the first half of 2026. The front and side view look relatively conventional, but the rear is unusual. Compared to the huge rear end of the Space Hub Concept from the CES 2024, it appears somewhat more delicate, but the view to the rear seems to be severely restricted. Otherwise, the study has camera-based exterior mirrors and flat integrated door handles.
Honda 0 SUV: The front looks pleasing ...
... but the rear takes some getting used to
Honda presents a picture of the interior, which primarily shows the huge glass roof. However, it is also recognisable that the lounge-like interior of the Space Hub Concept has been replaced by a conventional seating system. Steering is via steering horn and steer-by-wire system. Instead of a conventional interior mirror, there is a mysterious device. It may include a head-up display that shows the image from a rear camera.
The monitor landscape consists of at least two, perhaps even three monitors - the picture is not clear. In principle, however, the dashboard should look similar to that of the saloon. There is a driver's display, a touchscreen and a passenger monitor, as well as two screens for the exterior mirror cameras on the outside. The seats are different from those in the SUV, featuring unusually shaped integral sports seats:
The interior of the 0 Saloon with five displays, steering horn and sports seats
The 0 Saloon is the flagship of the 0 Series, which is apparently intended to compete in the luxury class, i.e. against the Mercedes EQS, Lucid Air and Porsche Taycan. One of the main differences compared to the study from CES 2024 is that the gullwing doors have been replaced by conventional doors. However, there are still no recognisable door handles and the closed wheel rims hardly look suitable for series production. The same applies to the front end, which with its sharp protruding edge looks like it was made to shatter kneecaps in the event of an accident.
Wedge-shaped 0 saloon with conventional doors ...
... and a similar rear end to the SUV
Honda has not yet officially provided any technical details on the drive and battery of the two models. However, Autocar has already learnt a few key points from Honda. For example, there will be a choice of rear-wheel drive with 245 PS or all-wheel drive with 490 PS. The saloon is to be fitted with NMC batteries with 80 to 100 kWh. Honda also wants to use the gigacasting process familiar from Tesla in production. This should also enable a lower vehicle weight.
Honda also presented its first own vehicle operating system called Asimo. The name is reminiscent of Honda's humanoid robot, which was presented over 20 years ago and shown several times at motor shows. The operating system is intended to run on 0-Series vehicles. Level 3 is to be possible for autonomous driving, i.e. "Eyes off": you can take your eyes off the road to watch a video, for example, but must be ready to take over driving again.
Honda also announced an agreement with the Japanese semiconductor company Renesas Electronics for the development of a system-on-chip which is to be introduced in the next generation of the 0-Series at the end of the 2020s. System-on-chip means that a single microchip takes over the functions that an entire circuit board normally fulfils. The advantage is said to be faster information processing.
More from Honda:
The bottom line
Although Honda wants to build its 0-Series vehicles in the USA, it also wants to launch them on the European market. A mid-size SUV like the one shown at the CES would probably not be out of the question here from the outset. But we don't see any future for a luxury saloon from Honda in this country. In Europe, people usually think of small and compact cars such as the Jazz or the Civic when they think of Honda. It would hardly occur to anyone to pay €80,000 (£65,000) for a luxury Honda.
Sources: Honda Global, Autocar
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