Honda’s Two Electric Prototypes Have 0 Names, But Asimo Lives On As An Automotive OS

As you may know, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is happening now in Vegas. On this very day 43 years ago, at CES, the famous Commodore 64 made its debut, and now, four decades later, Honda is showing off two new concept cars and a new in-car operating system, none of which really have anything to do with the Commodore 64. But I just wanted to mention it. Honda’s concepts are quite striking, and based on past experience with Honda, I wouldn’t expect any eventual production cars to look much like this. Though, to be fair, the Honda e sure looked like its concept progenitor, so who knows?

Honda’s two new cars are named nothing, kind of: the Honda 0 Saloon and Honda 0 SUV, and the car OS is named Asimo OS, after their now-discontinued humanoid robotics program. Honda says the two new electric vehicles are “confirmed for production in 2026 at the Honda EV Hub in Ohio” and that “0 Series models set to advance Honda’s global leadership of Level 3 (eyes off) automated driving,” which is something I’d like to look into a lot more, as I believe Level 3 autonomous driving is ill-defined garbage. But perhaps Honda has made some genuine advancements?

We’ll have to wait and see about that, but we can at least see what these concepts look like right now. This is the 0 Saloon:

It’s a pretty striking look! The front end feels a bit like a simplified Lamborghini Aventador to me, while the overall shape, with what reminds me of a sort of one-volume/kammback look, is giving (as the kids say) AMC Gremlin, Lotus Elite, and Brubaker Box vibes:

I do especially like the rear and the dramatic taillight treatment, a sort of infinity-box effect:

Is that a rear window, with the taillights incorporated into it? The only other example of that I can think of would be the Maserati Khasmin, if that’s in fact what is going on there.

The one-volume, angular approach may remind many of a Cybertruck, though this feels like a far more refined sort of design. The SUV is more of a two-box sort of design:

This feels a bit more conventional, but still retains the dramatic Kamm-like rear end:

There is definitely a rear window there, which I’m happy to see. No real specs are given for either the sedan or SUV, but there are some nice evocative pictures of the interior:

There’s a stupid-looking yoke steering wheel, of course, but everything else feels quite nice, airy and clean and modern; the dash is a vast slab of LCD screens, and, disappointingly, I don’t see a single tactile, physical control in sight.

The glass roof is huge, feeling downright convertible-like in photos like these. Would this make it to production like this? Who knows.

Honda’s Asimo OS, named, as we said, for their humaniod robot, was announced but the press release description doesn’t really reveal anything significant, being more of a general overview of a a car OS:

“Even after development of the ASIMO robot, Honda continued to advance its robotics technologies, including technologies from ASIMO that recognize external environments and autonomous behavior control that enabled ASIMO to react while understanding the intentions of people around it. By combining such robotics technologies with advanced intelligence technologies for the Honda 0 Series, Honda strives to offer the value of software defined vehicles (SDVs) unique to Honda.

As a software platform, ASIMO OS will apply integrated management of electronic control units (ECUs) for vehicle systems such as automated driving/advanced driver assistance systems (AD/ADAS) and in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) system.”

The part about reacting and understanding the intentions of the people around the car is possibly interesting, but I’d need a hell of a lot more detail before I got excited about that. More interesting is what Honda says about their Level 3 automated driving:

“Honda 0 Series models will be equipped with a system that enables the expansion of the range of driving conditions where driver assistance and Level 3 automated driving will be available. This expansion will start with eyes-off technology available in traffic congestion on highways, then will continue through the OTA updates of the functions.

With Level 3 automated driving, the vehicle will oversee driving, which will enable a human driver to perform a “second task” while enroute to their destination, whether watching a movie or remotely join a meeting. Honda will further advance its technologies and aims to become the first automaker to expand the application of eyes-off functions to all driving situations, opening new possibilities for mobility.”

What I want to know – and what no manufacturer has so far been able to adequately describe to me regarding L3 autonomy – is what the handover process looks like when the car needs the human – who may, as Honda notes, be involved in a “second task” – to take control of the car. This has always been the Achilles’ Heel of L3, which allows the human to pay no attention – until they need to take over. I’ll reach out to Honda and see if I can find out how they plan to tackle this significant hurdle.

These concepts do look cool, and I’m curious to see what their production counterparts will actually be like, as well as learning all of the important stuff about them, like range and cost. I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Hopefully, Honda can do better than the Sony Honda Afeela 1 in terms of performance and cost.

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