Honda presented two electric vehicle (EV) prototypes at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada on Tuesday, January 7.
These are the flagship Honda 0 Saloon and the Honda 0 SUV. Both of them will be launched in 2026 initially in North America, and then the rest of the world including Japan and Europe.
Honda terms its development philosophy and approach for these models as “Thin, Light and Wise.”
Honda’s new ASIMO OS
Honda also introduced its new vehicle operating system (OS), the ASIMO OS, for these models. It was named after Honda’s humanoid robot introduced in the year 2000, and capable of autonomous walking.
The ASIMO OS will be integrated with the vehicle’s electronic control units (ECUs) to enable functions like automated driving/advanced driver assistance systems (AD/ADAS) and in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) system.
Honda will also be providing over the air (OTA) updates for it.
Honda’s Automated driving (AD) technology
Honda originally created Honda SENSING Elite, its level 3 automated driving equipment in 2021. It now claims that it pans to offer this through the 0 Series to eliminate traffic accidents that a “human driver could avoid.”
This is to be done through an artificial intelligence (AI) technology that combines the unsupervised learning technology of Helm.ai and the behavior models of experienced drivers.
Honda claims that this level 3 autonomous driving will enable the human driver to perform a “second task” while en route to their destination, whether watching a movie or remotely joining a meeting.
For this, Honda announced an agreement with Renesas Electronics Corporation (Renesas) to develop a high-performance system-on-chip (SoC).
Everything about Honda’s energy service plan
Honda will also develop and offer new energy services by building a charging network in North America called IONNA in a joint venture with eight automakers in total.
These include Honda’s America division, BMW Group, General Motors, Hyundai Motors, Kia Corporation, Mercedes-Benz Group, Stellantis N.V., Toyota Motor.
They aims to build at least 30,000 charging stations by 2030.
Honda will also adopt the North American Charging Standard (NACS) for the charging port of Honda 0 Series models.
It will also use Amazon Bedrock, the generative AI technology of Amazon Web Services (AWS) to provide a personalized charging experience for each individual in terms of finding charging facilities and simplifying payments.
Honda will also be offering Honda Smart Charge, a charging service for EV owners, which it currently offers in North America, by combining the Home Energy Management System it is co-developing with Emporia Corp., with the Vehicle Grid Integration (VGI) system of ChargeScape, in a software joint venture with BMW and Ford.
The automaker also claims that the Honda 0 Series models will also serve as a virtual power plant (VPP).
This is a system where Honda envisions a large number of 0 Series cars charging themselves by selecting times of the day when electricity costs are low and renewable energy can be utilized.
It will also be able to “discharge the electricity for household use during times when electricity costs are high, thereby wisely managing the entire household’s electricity bill.”
Honda even claims that “when electricity is in short supply, the electricity stored in Honda 0 Series models can be supplied to the power grid, thereby contributing to the stabilization of electricity supply and enabling owners to gain some income from their EVs.”
