The Honda 0 Saloon on display at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, on Jan. 7.Petrina Gentile/The Globe and Mail
Looking at three cars unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in early January that received the most buzz, it’s hard not to wonder about Honda’s electric vehicle strategy.
Is it trying to make affordable EVs for the masses? Or futuristic, higher-priced ones? Is it trying to go alone or looking for partners?
Despite its “scattershot” strategy, an expert says Honda’s strong brand will give it an edge with whatever it brings to market.
Back in April, 2022, Honda partnered with General Motors to share the cost of developing a new EV. Together, they co-developed Honda’s first all-electric SUV, the Honda Prologue, which shares its platform with the electric Chevrolet Blazer. But that partnership, which was meant to produce millions of affordable EVs by 2027, ended in October, 2023.
Fast forward to CES this year, where Honda unveiled two new EV prototypes under its next-generation 0 Series – the 0 Saloon and the 0 SUV. At the same venue, Honda also revealed a production-ready electric Afeela 1 sedan, a joint venture with electronics giant Sony that falls under the Sony Honda Mobility umbrella. The Afeela 1 will initially be sold in California for nearly US$90,000.
CEO Yasuhide Mizuno of Sony Honda Mobility Inc. speaks about the Afeela 1 EV, on Jan. 6.John Locher/The Associated Press
The Honda 0 SUV on display at the Consumer Electronics Show, in Las Vegas, on Jan. 7.Petrina Gentile/The Globe and Mail
“A lot of folks are questioning what is Honda thinking and why are they going down that road? Sony is obviously a strong brand when it comes to electronics and entertainment and yet the vehicle they came up with doesn’t look terribly entertaining. It doesn’t seem to break any grounds from a technology standpoint,” says Adam Bernard, a long-time General Motors director and now principal of AutoPerspectives, a consultancy firm based in Detroit.
While Honda didn’t differentiate between what’s shared and what’s unique on the 0 Series prototypes versus the Afeela 1, the 0 Series appears to have more advanced vehicle technology including smaller drive units, a flat battery and Level 3 autonomous driving.
“There [are] a lot of really interesting ideas [in the 0 Series] and then the Afeela doesn’t seem to be anything new or interesting. Yet the price tag is more expensive than a Tesla Model S or a Lucid Air,” Bernard says.
Design-wise, the 0 Series prototypes are bolder and more futuristic than the somewhat conventional-looking Afeela 1.
Still, there are neat design elements on the Afeela 1. On the front horizontal lighting system, you can change the text and create greetings such as “Welcome Bob” on the bumper.
In the cabin, the vehicles appear equally tech-savvy with massive screens across the dashboard including two peripheral screens that display the side-camera views.
The 0 Series also gets an all-new in-house vehicle operating system, dubbed Asimo OS, which pays tribute to the Honda Asimo robot revealed at CES in 2000.
The Afeela 1 doesn’t have that. But it will have a 90-kilowatt-hour battery, 40 sensors and 70-per-cent recyclable seats. And that hefty price tag – US$89,900 for the base Origin model and US$102,900 for the top Signature trim.
No word yet on pricing for the 0 Series. Honda confirmed production versions of the 0 Saloon and 0 SUV concepts will go on sale in North America in 2026. The 0 SUV will arrive first, starting in the first half of 2026; the Saloon will follow in late 2026. Both will be built at Honda’s new EV hub in Ohio.
But that’s not all. In late January, a report by Nikkei outlined Honda’s plans to build its smallest and cheapest EV model under the 0 Series, starting at less than US$30,000. It could arrive in the U.S. as early as next year. And it may be built in Ohio alongside the 0 Series prototypes.
Even though the 0 Series Saloon and SUV prototypes are meant to be global vehicles, Honda is working on another EV platform in China that’s roughly the same size as the 0 Series, Bernard says.
“If you want to add a different complexity, the 0 series is intended to be global, yet Honda on their own is doing another platform in China so their EV strategy seems to be a little scattershot. And I’m not sure why,” he says.
Further complicating matters is Honda’s potential merger with Nissan, which Bernard says is another odd partnership that appears short on benefits for Honda.
“If I were a Honda shareholder, I would not be comfortable if my company were merging with another company that was in serious financial trouble,” he says. “Acquiring another company that has some good assets at a good price is a different story. But with the merger, there’s not a lot of obvious reasons why Honda is getting into it.”
Nissan cut its annual profit forecast by 70 per cent and a senior official told the Financial Times late last year, “We have 12 to 14 months to survive.”
Bernard says the only benefit he could see is from Nissan’s truck capability if Honda wants to get into body-on-frame vehicles.
Honda hasn’t backed off its ambitious EV goals. The Japanese automaker is targeting two million EVs and 1.3 million hybrid vehicles by 2030. That’s a big jump from what it’s currently selling. In 2024, Honda sold 3.6 million cars globally, of which 66,000 were EVs, according to J.D. Power. It’s also heavily invested in batteries, running a demonstration production line for solid-state batteries at its research and development centre in Japan.
“Solid state batteries [are] the next big step in battery technology in terms of longer range, safer, faster charging, higher power density – all the things you want to hear about next-generation technology,” Bernard says. “No one is quiet there, yet. But Honda may be positioning themselves to be upfront.”
Bernard thinks Honda’s loyal customers will give it an edge over other EV competitors. He points to the fact that the Honda Prologue outsold the Chevrolet Blazer in the U.S. last year: Honda sold 33,017 Prologues while Chevrolet sold 23,115 Blazer EVs.
“I think Honda is a bit more bulletproof … The perception that Hondas are built to last, especially as people are concerned about the longevity of EVs, might be something that plays into Honda’s future success,” Bernard says.
“Every automaker makes some questionable product decisions and Honda is no exception, but they have the global footprint in terms of sales and manufacturing, [and] a reasonably diverse portfolio,” he says. “I think Honda is pretty well positioned for the future. The technology behind the 0 Series EVs seem state-of-the-art. If the technologies actually make it to production, they will have some very competitive products. Granted, we haven’t seen a final production version, yet.”
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