Almost every year the automotive great and good assemble for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and invariably there is something of interest to car users. This year pride of place went to the reliable Japanese brand Honda who introduced concept versions of their new electric vision for 2026.
Honda 0 Series
This year, at the CES 2024 extravaganza in Las Vegas, Nevada, Honda unveiled the “0 Series,” a new electric vehicle (EV) series for 2026, with the world premiere of two premium concept models, the Saloon and the Space-Hub.
As always with car makers, the vehicles were accompanied by the usual automotive hyperbole, to whit, “The Power of Dreams – How we move you”. This slogan is apparently meant to convey the message that Honda will create mobility products and services which enable people to “transcend various constraints such as time and place,” and to “augment their abilities and possibilities.” With such mobility products and services, Honda will support the realization of dreams of more people and become the driving force that moves society forward. Hyperbole indeed, but Honda do make very good cars, so why worry about semantics?
Moreover, Honda is aiming, they say, to realise carbon neutrality for all products and corporate activities Honda is involved in by 2050. To this end, the company is pursuing electrification to achieve its auto-electrification target of “increasing the ratio of EV and FCEV (fuel cell instead of battery) sales to 100% globally by 2040.”
The Honda 0 Series is a new concept that symbolizes how Honda is undergoing a major transformation in line with its global electrification policy (as opposed, say, to Toyota, who are hedging their bets and BMW who are on the cusp of exploiting the potential of hydrogen drive).
The series name represents Honda’s determination in taking on this challenge of developing new EV series by going back to the starting point of Honda as a car maker and creating completely new electric cars from ground zero. With this new EV series, Honda will strive to further advance its “freedom of mobility” thinking to even greater heights. So, in 2026, Honda will begin introducing the first model of the Honda 0 Series globally, starting from North America, then to Japan, Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East and South America.
Honda is determined to achieve “zero environmental impact” throughout the vehicle’s life cycle, including corporate activities, and “zero traffic collision fatalities” involving Honda motorcycles and cars. A bold claim. A positive note is struck by the idea of transcending the constraints of being a “thick and heavy” vehicle due to an increase in battery capacity (gross weight being a contentious issue with EVs) the vehicle has to carry to secure enough range, as well as a large body and platform necessary to accommodate such battery capacity.
Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS)
In 2021, Honda put Level 3 automated driving into practical use by introducing a specific model equipped with Honda ‘SENSING Elite’ that includes an advanced technology qualifying for Level 3 automated driving (conditional automated driving in a limited area).
In order to offer automated driving technologies Honda 0 Series will feature an ADAS that utilizes the technologies of Honda ‘SENSING Elite’ potentially to Level 4 automation. Moreover, in the second half of the 2020s, Honda 0 Series models will feature an AD (automated driving) system and will be offered as more affordable EVs featuring more automated driving functions.
This AD system is being developed based on Honda’s “human-centric” safety concept. It will feature further advanced AI, sensing, recognition/decision-making and driver monitoring technologies to realize more human-like, natural and high-precision risk predictions, making it possible to offer automated driving functions people can use safely and with peace of mind. It makes you wonder just how far this technology can go. Such advanced AD technologies will increase the number of situations where automated driving can be used on express ways and make some of hands-off functions available on regular roads.
In Other News
Recently, the advance of autonomous driving has been curtailed by on-going, previously unforeseen, issues; now though, it seems the technology is back on track. Some autonomous driving developers previewed a number of services and vehicles at CES 2024. A global LiDAR technology company displayed a BMW i7 and Volkswagen ID. Buzz (see review here of this interesting EV) with both vehicles integrated with LiDAR solutions, preparing the way for the aforementioned Level 4 autonomous driving.
This LiDAR technology promises to augment safety by allowing vehicles to ‘see’ what humans and cameras cannot. This, they say, will ensure unparalleled protection for passengers, pedestrians, and other vehicles on the road.
The Future
Despite misgivings in some quarters, artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as an accelerant that can cut manufacturer’s time to market significantly for breakthrough products and technologies, looking at highly complex, dynamic systems with non-linear behaviour, for example, electric vehicle batteries.
Through the ability to learn from data, test engineers can understand behaviour characteristics that are so complex, that without the right tools it is incredibly difficult to decipher. AI that learns from real-world test data is a reliable and effective means for solving the intractable physics of batteries, so we are told. In short, improving range and speed of charging.
It certainly seems as if electric motoring is going to forge ahead, although recently as mentioned, Toyota’s CEO has said that the huge Japanese brand will also continue with internal combustion engines for the foreseeable future. Either way, MHH International can export prestige cars from the UK, VAT-free, to Kenya, New Zealand, Ireland, the Caribbean or other global destinations. If your future vehicle is electric or fossil fuel powered then find out how MHH International can help.
