In addition to the Afeela 1, Honda will also present two 0-series design studies at CES. The wedge-shaped 0 sedan is a sedan that doesn't 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 begin production in 2026 at Honda's existing plant in Ohio. The start of sales on the market is also planned for 2026, initially in North America, and later also in Europe.
0 SUV, which Honda says is a "mid-size" electric SUV, is already announced for the first half of 2026. The front and side views look relatively conventional, but the rear of the vehicle is unusual. Compared to the huge rear end of the Space Hub Concept from CES 2024, it looks a little more gentle, but the rear view seems to be severely limited. Otherwise, the study has camera-based exterior mirrors and flat integrated door handles.
Honda has released a picture of the interior, which mainly shows the large glass roof. It is also recognizable that the interior of the Space Hub Concept salon has been replaced by a conventional seating system. Steering is available with a joystick and a wire-by-wire system. Instead of the usual interior mirror, there is a mysterious construction. This may include a head-up display that displays the image from the rear camera.
The monitor landscape consists of at least two, maybe even three monitors - the picture is not clear. In principle, the dashboard should look similar to that of a sedan. There's a driver's screen, a touchscreen and a passenger monitor, and there are two screens for the exterior mirror cameras on the outside. The seats are different from those in an SUV, namely, they are integral sports seats with an unusual design.
The 0 sedan is the flagship of the 0 series, which is clearly intended to compete in the luxury class, ie. 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 One of the main differences compared to the study from CES 2024 is that the gullwing doors have been replaced by regular doors. However, there are still no recognizable door handles and the closed wheel rims hardly look suitable for series production. The same goes for the front end, which with its sharp, protruding edge looks like it was made to crush kneecaps in the event of an accident.
Honda has not yet officially provided technical details about the drivetrain and battery of the two models. However, Autocar has already learned some key information from Honda. For example, it will be possible to choose between rear-wheel drive with 180 kW and all-wheel drive with 360 kW. The limousine is said to be equipped with NMC batteries with a capacity of 80 to 100 kWh. Honda also wants to use the gigacasting process known to Tesla in production. This should also enable a lower vehicle weight.
Honda also introduced its first in-house operating system for Asimo vehicles. The name is reminiscent of Honda's humanoid robot, which was introduced more than 20 years ago and has been shown several times at car shows. The operating system is intended for use in series 0 vehicles. Level 3 should be possible for autonomous driving, i.e. "Eyes off": You can take your eyes off the road to watch a video, for example, but you must be ready to resume driving.
Honda also announced an agreement with Japanese semiconductor company Renesas Electronics to develop a system-on-chip that will be introduced in the next-generation 0 Series in late 2020. System-on-a-chip means that a single microchip takes over the functions normally performed by an entire circuit. The advantage is said to be faster processing of information.
