Last week at CES in Las Vegas, Honda offered a first look at the upcoming electric vehicle models planned for 2026 with the Saloon and Space-Hub concepts. Both are slated for their Series 0 platform (Serie Zero).
At least some of these models will be manufactured in the United States and will arrive there first before Japan, China, and Europe, clarified the automaker. Honda also stated that they will be connected but fun to drive, offering a yet-to-be-detailed motion management system for driving and handling, emphasizing efficiency, and featuring lightweight, high-energy-density battery packs.
These batteries, to be used in later versions of the platform, will be able to charge from 15 to 80% in just 10 to 15 minutes and will not lose more than 10% of the original battery capacity (and range) after 10 years of use, according to Honda.
Honda executive Shinji Aoyama reveals layers of the architecture of the Series 0 electric vehicles – CES 2024
Honda noted that Series 0 will consist of many layers, including an EV platform (propulsion), an E&E (electric and electronic) architecture, a software platform, an application layer, a set of sensors, and Honda Connect telematics and data delivery software.
Based on a Q&A session with Toshihiro Mibe, Honda’s global CEO, and Shinki Aoyama, the company’s chief executive in charge of electric vehicles, as well as several interviews with other company executives, Green Car Reports has more context on these upcoming models.
Here are 12 key points to note about what these upcoming electric vehicles will bring:
- Initial production models of Series 0 will start in the “mid-large” segment. Honda refused to disclose the dimensions of the concepts, but they appeared to be around 190 inches long. After a few years, Honda will introduce propulsion platforms and electric vehicles of different sizes that will allow Series 0 to span from small to large.
- In 2026, a production model based on the saloon will be launched, stated Mibe, but emphasized that Honda has not yet decided on the production volume. That said, there will be several Honda electric vehicles based on the basic components of Series 0. Honda has committed to producing 40 gigawatt-hours annually with LG, as part of a joint battery supply agreement, enough to produce between 350,000 and 400,000 vehicles, Aoyama underscored.
- While not niche efforts, don’t expect the Series 0 lineup to use existing Honda brands like Accord, Civic, or CR-V. Also, don’t expect a small, affordable electric vehicle much before 2030. According to Aoyama, the company has been analyzing the traction of electric vehicles under the Honda brand for the past few years and decided that it would be more challenging for the company to simply add EV versions of legacy models. Acura is being handled differently.
- Mibe explained that the foundations of Series 0 will be used as common basic components for the Afeela electric sedan that Sony-Honda will sell in 2026. But not all components will be the same. The Sony and Honda effort will include aspects that “enhance the value of the vehicle” and “surprise the world,” he noted.
- Honda emphasized that its technical approach with Series 0 is slim, lightweight, and smart, starting by reducing the battery height at the bottom of the vehicle by about 10%, boasted Daisuke Tsutamori, creative director and general manager of Research and Development at Honda’s e-Mobility Design Division. While Tsutamori couldn’t detail what this enables, he explained that it’s a technical aspect that frees up design options on the road to production. As Honda reveals more about its package, look for more details that help keep dimensions small. It’s more than just cooling and packaging. GM, for example, said that, in part with the help of a wireless battery management system, it could keep the design of its Ultium battery pack clean and compact despite the large cell size it uses.
- Target range of 300 miles. “We developed the Zero series with a target of 300 miles or more as the optimal range,” said Koji Nakano, general manager and chief engineer of BEV product planning at Honda. Nakano didn’t say if that range target could apply to one or both of the concepts shown at CES, but confirmed that a 300-mile target applies to the Series 0 in production for the U.S. market. He added that Honda chose the range target, combined with the slim battery form factor, to minimize losses and optimize efficiency while meeting customer needs.
- Honda won’t hop on the carbon fiber train. BMW, in particular, adopted carbon fiber, with an underlying aluminum structure, for its i3 electric car, with the idea that a somewhat higher manufacturing cost would translate into a lower carbon footprint over the long term. But it was an expense the company ultimately couldn’t reconcile. Nakano couldn’t reveal if Honda plans to make these vehicles with steel, aluminum, or other materials, but confirmed they will not use carbon fiber or carbon fiber-reinforced plastic.
- Nakano also confirmed that these vehicles are being developed with bidirectional charging in mind, and production models will offer this capability. At CES, it appeared as if a mobile energy pack was being charged between the front and rear seats of the Space-Hub concept. That would give Honda’s well-received Motocompact electric scooter another potential future product.
- With Series 0, Honda is working on SAE Level 3 urban driving capability and aims to implement that feature wirelessly by the late 2020s. In an attached statement, Honda noted increased availability and affordability for that set of capabilities. The automaker has not detailed how the steer-by-wire system of these models will be implemented, but it will enable assisted driving in addition to much more packaging flexibility.
- Aerodynamics are an important part of efficiency and real-world range. Tsutamori confirmed that Honda plans to bring to production an electric vehicle largely based on the Saloon model. While he admitted that Honda focused on the coefficient of resistance when shaping the form of these vehicles, he emphasized that they are concepts at this stage and would not reveal numbers.
- Honda has decidedly gone retro with some of its previous electric vehicle designs, such as the Honda E, which never made it to the United States, and the sports coupe EV concept that never went into production. Car design has evolved, said Tsutamori, and while the emphasis of Series 0 is on simple and clean design, some elements of Honda’s earlier design, including the first-generation Civic for the front, which instead of a grille houses radar, lidar, and other sensors, are blended in.
- None of the conceptual vehicles Honda showed has rear windows. While rear windows may have been a grey omission for years in supercars, the family market is getting a taste of it with the upcoming Polestar 4. As Tsutamori explained, whether Honda follows that path depends on a market-by-market check on regulations as these models evolve toward production. But he made it clear that it’s a design choice Honda would like to make, as it becomes a way to expand space for rear passengers.
