The Honda 0 Saloon and 0 SUV prototypes preview 2026 production cars

Say hello to the wedgy Honda 0 Saloon and the Honda 0 SUV. And no, you’re not suffering from some kind of concept car déjà vu, because we have actually seen a version of these cars before.

First unveiled at CES 2024, these two EVs were originally known as the Saloon and the Space-Hub concept. They still look almost identical (although they’re now both painted white and the saloon has new lights – nothing escapes our eagle eyes), and they’re actually still at the prototype phase. But Honda has been busy readying these new 0 Series cars for production, and we now know both will be arrive in 2026.

We hope the Saloon still looks like this when it hits the road (and we hope it gets a better name). Honda said it’ll be the flagship model of the 0 Series and that its “low height and sporty styling sets the Saloon apart from other EVs”. Erm, has anyone warned them of the myriad all-electric saloons currently on sale? Although, at less than 1.4m tall it is 4cm shorter than a Tesla Model 3.

All 0 Series cars (we’re expecting the saloon, this SUV and five other models worldwide by 2030) will be developed using a “Thin, Light and Wise” approach. We don’t know how light the production cars will end up being, but at CES 2025 Honda focussed on the ‘Wise’ with the announcement of Level 3 automated driving for the 0 Saloon, allowing the driver to take their eyes off the road and perform a ‘second task’. This will first be available in heavy traffic or on motorways, but through over-the-air updates Honda wants to become the first carmaker to enable eyes-off driving in all situations. And yes, it’s using AI to help its systems learn how to respond to different scenarios, because everything has to be AI these days.

So, to the 0 SUV. Honda said it'll be the first of the new 0 Series cars when it’s introduced in North America in the first half of 2026. It’ll then go on sale in Japan and Europe shortly after, and it’s described as a mid-size EV SUV. Looks pretty funky too with its blocky design and estate-like rear end. There should also be some funky tech in there – Honda notes ‘3D gyro sensors’ that have been developed by its robotics team and should “enable dynamics at the will of the driver on various road surfaces”. We’re not entirely sure what that actually means, but perhaps it’ll corner so flat they won’t be able to resist doing a range of 0 Series Type Rs? We can only hope.

Speaking of robotics, Honda also used CES 2025 to announce its new Asimo OS system that’ll be deployed in the 0 Series cars. Now, those of us of a certain age will have fond memories of Asimo. Honda actually began robotics research and development as far back as 1986, but Asimo – a walking, talking humanoid robot – wasn’t actually unveiled to the world until 2000. His supremely cute little brain has now essentially been moulded into an operating system which will look after the car’s ECUs, its active safety systems and its infotainment system. Sadly, going completely virtual does mean Asimo will continue to struggle with stairs. Poor little fella.

That’s about it for detail at this point. Of course, we already know the 0 Series battery would be six per cent thinner than those on Honda’s current EVs, while the overall kerbweight should be around 100kg less. There’ll be active aero to improve the drag coefficient too, and over 300 miles of range has been mentioned for the saloon. Honda is still yet to give any indication of price, power or charging speeds for either of the first two 0 Series cars, but given that it’s targeting a launch in early 2026 we should get more detail soon.