Honda reinvents EV line-up for 2026 with radical concepts

Honda will launch the 0 Series as a new line of striking, highly advanced EVs completely unrelated to its current cars in 2026.

Representing a ground-up overhaul of the Japanese brand’s approach to electric car development and majoring on efficiency, engagement, spaciousness and autonomy, they will be sold in global markets including Europe, following a launch in the US.

Honda’s European boss, Katsuhisa Okuda, said the 0 Series is about “creating outstanding projects from zero, unconstrained by existing assumptions”.

With this new line of EVs, Honda is “going back to the starting point of Honda as an auto maker and creating new EVs from zero”, hence the 0 Series name.

It showed two concepts previewing this new family at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas: a rakish, low-slung flagship simply named the Saloon and the larger Space-Hub, a flexibility-focused people-mover that blends elements of SUVs and MPVs.

The concepts haven’t been designed to preview direct replacements for any existing Honda models but rather stand as a statement of intent for the 75-year-old brand’s next steps.

As a signal of their revolutionary billing, they wear a reinterpreted version of Honda’s H-mark emblem, which will be rolled out to production cars from 2026.

“In developing the Honda 0 Series, the development team went back to the starting point of Honda and reconsidered what kind of EVs Honda wants to create in the coming era,” the company said.

“Honda will strive to create new value for EVs by transcending the constraints of being thick and heavy due to the large and heavy battery necessary to secure long enough range, as well as a large and heavy body and platform necessary to accommodate such batteries.”

Honda stopped short of precisely detailing how it will reduce the size and weight of these new EVs but did outline a new ethos that lies at the heart of its product development strategy: “Thin, light and wise.”

Under this banner, Honda will seek to maximise aerodynamic efficiency – an endeavour best showcased by the ultra-sleek Saloon concept – by reducing the height of its cars’ silhouettes and using a new ‘thin’ EV platform that reduces the floor thickness.

So too will it “defy the established beliefs people have about EVs” by making them lighter – with the benefits of both enhanced efficiency and greater driver appeal.

Honda emphasises the importance of the ‘joy of driving’ in its new-era line-up, and says it is aiming to achieve “an uplifting feeling that comes from a sporty drive and sense of oneness the driver feels, both mentally and physically, with the vehicle”.

Few technical details have been released in this regard, but each 0 Series car will be driven by e-axles – which comprise motors, inverters and gearboxes in one unit – with “excellent power conversion efficiency and packaging.

The battery packs will be lighter and denser than those in use today to give an increased range – of more than 300 miles – while taking up less space. They will be capable of charging from 10-80% capacity in between 10 and 15 minutes. 

New battery management software – developed with learnings from more than one million electrified Hondas currently on the road – will help to reduce battery degradation, with Honda aiming for its batteries to still have more than 90% usable capacity after 10 years of use.

Honda also pledges that these new EVs will be “wiser”, courtesy of advanced new intelligent technologies, evolving into “software-defined mobility products” using the “knowledge Honda has amassed to date”.

All 0 Series cars will feature an automated driving system that builds on the Level 3 Sensing functionality currently offered on the Legend saloon in the US. The new system, currently in development, will use advanced artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance its decision-making abilities and provide more human-like responses, Honda said.

The new functionality aims to ensure Honda’s new-generation autonomous driving software can be deployed on “regular roads” as well as multi-lane motorways.

The brand hasn’t yet said when it plans to introduce this software in markets outside the US.

Crucially, though, Honda does pledge that its autonomous-capable EVs will be “more affordable” than those currently on the market, suggesting that prices for this technology can come down with scale.

Increased use of AI will also mean these new cars can learn their driver’s behaviours and make various suggestions accordingly. “The more people use their vehicle”, Honda says, “the closer they become with their vehicle”.

Details of exactly how close these two concepts are to production readiness remain under wraps, but Honda has confirmed that the final version of the Saloon will feature a steer-by-wire system, an interior that’s “more spacious than people can imagine based on the exterior” and a raft of sustainable materials inside and out.

As implied by the name, the Space Hub places an even greater emphasis on roominess, with a cabin that is designed to be a “flexible space that immediately accommodates what the users want to do”.