The vehicles will be underpinned by a new in-house-developed operating system named after Honda’s iconic Asimo robot.

At CES in Las Vegas today, Honda showed off its promised new battery-electric Honda Zero prototypes. The first is an SUV based on its Space-Hub concept, called the Honda 0 SUV. The second is a sedan based on its Saloon concept, called the Honda 0 Saloon.

Honda says the two new EVs will go into production sometime in 2026. And as if that weren’t enough, the new vehicles will be the first to feature the automaker’s new in-house-developed Asimo operating system.

Zero looks

Concepts and prototypes are hard to judge because they are typically more design-focused than what consumers will eventually see at their local dealers.

That being said, the Honda 0 SUV looks a bit like an ’80s-era dustbuster got together with a Volvo EX30, while the Honda 0 Saloon looks somewhat akin to an anteater. But in person, both look much better than I expected.

The SUV, in particular, appears much closer to a final production version and offers a unique rear cargo opening that includes two fold-down tables on either side. The Honda 0 Saloon is much swoopier, while still appearing similar to the Saloon concept that Honda showed off in 2024. Still, Honda toned it down, replacing the gull wing-style doors on the concept with more normal ones. A set of retro-style headlights blink open and look similar to Lamborghini Countach designs of the ’80s.

There’s something noticeably nostalgic about the design. When the doors of the Saloon are open, the yoke-style steering wheel rotates so that the driver can slide into the low-slung seat without getting snagged. And when the doors are closed, the yoke rotates back down. That’s possible because the Zero platform is drive-by-wire. (In the SUV, the yoke remains stationary.)

Both interiors still look highly prototyped, with a dash-sized screen stretching from pillar to pillar. It’s reminiscent of the forthcoming Afeela EV from Honda’s joint venture with Sony. (The Afeela also got a proper rollout this week.)

The exterior designs also have an element of the luxury automaker Lagonda, a brand owned by Aston Martin that has dipped in and out of existence over the years. One of the more polarizing designs that Aston brought to the market, the Aston Martin Lagonda Shooting Brake, looks very similar to the designs that Honda showed off at the show.

The Honda 0 SUV will be the first to go into production for the North American market in 2026 that Honda said it will build at its factory in Ohio. And it will likely drive similarly to the Honda Zero prototype CR-V that I drove in Japan in October.

The new operating system

Honda says Honda Zero embodies three principles: “thin, light, and wise.” At CES, Honda executives said they were focused on showing off the “wise” principle.

That includes a new, in-house-developed operating system called Asimo OS, named after the company’s Asimo humanoid robot from the early 2000s that was designed for “people’s daily lives.”

Honda retired Asimo in 2018 to focus on “more practical” applications. But the company retained a lot of information from the more than 33.26 million steps the robot took over its lifetime about some of the stumbling blocks and safety issues a fully autonomous robot would have to overcome. When Honda unveiled Asimo in 2000, it was widely heralded as both a beloved friend (which once played soccer with President Barack Obama and could autonomously recognize a human wave as well as moving objects) and a symbol of Japanese technological advancement.

As an icon of robotics, Honda decided to name its new operating system after Asimo. The new OS will allow for things like “ultra-personal optimization” of the digital experience as well as automated driving. Honda also said it plans to integrate the management of its electronic control units (ECUs) for the vehicle for better control of functions like suspension, braking, and handling.

Honda’s Zero vehicles will be equipped with Level 3 automated driving, which allows the driver to take their hands, feet, and attention off the road ahead, depending on the conditions. Currently, Honda only offers this feature on its Honda Legend sedan equipped with the company’s Sensing Elite tech, which is only available to lease in Japan.

Honda says that it will leverage its relationship with Helm.AI (a company that Honda invested more than $30 million in in 2022) as well as its own AI development to learn from “smaller amounts of data” so that its automated driving system can rapidly expand the range of conditions in which it can be used.

Honda said it wants to offer Level 3 autonomy in heavy traffic situations and expand the offerings from there via over-the-air updates. All Zero vehicles will have the option for this technology at an “affordable” price.

Honda did not give further details about pricing but did say that the system will allow occupants to watch videos or remotely join a meeting in the car when the Level 3 system is engaged.

All Honda Zero vehicles will come with this new OS and be updatable over the air. The system will also “learn” from and adapt to each “user.” Because, in the era of software-defined vehicles, there are no longer drivers and passengers, but users to “enhance the joy of driving.”

A new partner for Honda’s system-on-a-chip

Honda also announced a new partnership with Japanese semiconductor manufacturer Renesas to create a system-on-a-chip to cut down on the number of ECUs and handle more processing demand.

Most vehicles today have multiple ECUs handling different systems. Each one has to communicate to the other in milliseconds, which requires a lot of compute power. The more ECUs in a vehicle, the more wiring, the more code, and the more lag, so Honda is partnering with Renesas to create a single ECU for future Zero vehicles.

Honda says that its ECU will handle everything from ADAS to powertrain and comfort features as well as AI — and that this will require a chip that can handle all of that processing demand at once.

Honda’s move to bring this development more in-house is part of a wider trend of automakers moving away from off-the-shelf, plug-and-play-style options for their software needs. Instead, they’re developing bespoke ECUs, chips, and other components to handle the increasing demands of the software-defined vehicle, especially in light of AI adoption and autonomous driving systems.

iDrive uses 3D graphics and augmented reality to keep your eyes on the road.

At CES this week, BMW announced a new iDrive operating system with an eye-catching centerpiece: a 3D heads-up display (HUD) that stretches from pillar to pillar along the windshield.

Included in this futuristic setup is a new steering wheel with haptic buttons and a new augmented reality system that layers navigation directions and driver assistance with road information. And perhaps the most noticeable change: BMW eliminated the traditional gauge cluster in the dash in favor of a customizable digital version projected onto the windshield.

“We’ve taken on a new perspective in designing the UX,” Christian Bauer, the head of digital and UX at BMW, told a group of journalists at a preview event held near BMW’s massive Spartanburg, South Carolina, plant in November last year. “Pushing the display closer to the street will help drivers make quicker decisions, which will make it easier to keep your eyes on the road.”

The new system will appear in the upcoming-but-yet-unnamed X-class SUV that BMW is building on the all-electric Neue Klasse platform. That SUV will make its debut at the end of 2025, according to BMW.

BMW, like many automakers, is following in Tesla’s minimalistic footsteps by cutting down on screens and dials inside the vehicle. While BMW isn’t the first to eliminate the dash cluster and instead project it onto the windshield, it is an interesting move for a company with the tagline “Ultimate Driving Machine,” and its drivers have historically preferred classic dials and gauges in the dash.

BMW isn’t really worried about any backlash, chief technology officer Frank Weber told me — even though there were some members of the company’s board who were a bit concerned when first presented with the idea.

Weber said the new set up is no longer like having a video screen in your car, but rather an added layer of augmented reality that keeps driver and car more connected to the road. “You are connected to the car, and the car is connected to the road. It’s exactly where you would expect the information to be,” he added.

Your dashboard on the windshield

This isn’t the first time that BMW has teased the new heads-up display called BMW Panoramic iDrive. The company showed off a version of it at CES 2023 in the iVision Dee concept, and it’s all part of the new platform called BMW Operating System X.

The new heads-up display runs along the narrow black strip at the bottom of the windshield that stretches between A-pillars. The display is three-dimensional and includes speed, adaptive driving assistance information, stoplight and road sign information, navigation information, and state of charge. It’s customizable, too, allowing drivers to set up the information they want to have in their eyeline while on the road.

Unlike other HUDs, where you have to be at the right angle to see the information displayed, BMW says the new display will be visible to both the driver and passenger.

BMW also integrated navigation and ADAS features in the HUD so that the path you’re following turns green when using onboard navigation with driver assist. “If you think about higher levels of automated driving,” Bauer said, “then ADAS and navigation naturally come together.” He also noted that many of the features of the new HUD came about thanks to customer feedback. BMW already offers some hands-off autonomous driving features on marked highways.

Though the windshield is the display surface, it is not a specialty windshield and won’t cost extra to replace if it gets a rock chip, BMW said. A special film on the windshield helps make the 3D images appear crisp and clear. And the black print that the HUD is projected onto is the standard black print on all other vehicles.

Customizable infotainment screen

In addition to creating a full-windshield HUD, BMW also introduced a new rhombus-shaped center infotainment screen that offers a more customizable interface. Users can drag and drop “pixels,” or apps that they use frequently, into a couple of main boxes on the home screen so they are more readily available. According to BMW, the company does have plans to offer a BMW app store for the new UX, which could include paid apps for things like special lighting packages, similar to Hyundai’s plans for the upcoming Ioniq 9.

BMW says it’s using edge AI to “learn” from the customer as they drive and offer relevant features based on behavior. For example, if you frequently take a winding road home from work, put the vehicle into Sport mode, and cue up your music app, those options will regularly pop into the center screen for easy access. And if you frequently listen to meditation apps or podcasts while charging your EV, those apps will pop into the center stack whenever you’re plugged in.

BMW says it’s also using large language models to help make the vehicle smarter about what drivers want. BMW’s natural voice recognition system has been a class leader for some time, but now the company is leveraging LLMs to make navigation a bit easier. For example, you can ask the system to take you to a charging station close to a grocery store, using natural language, rather than having to use specific keywords.

In addition to updating its OS, BMW has also reimagined the steering wheel in the upcoming Neue Klasse. The new version has quite a few more buttons covered in a single piece of plastic, much like a medical device. Each button lights up when the system is available and offers haptic feedback when pushed.

BMW let us experience an approximation of the HUD and use some of the haptic buttons on a VR rig in November, ahead of the CES announcement. While it was impossible to get an impression of the imagery’s real-world clarity on the windshield, the haptic buttons were easy enough to navigate without being able to see them. The buttons feel similar to those in the 2024 Mercedes Benz S-Class and are all within easy reach.

BMW says that the new iDrive, UX, and interior setup will start to appear in its vehicles at the end of 2025.

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