Honda believes in you you want to talk to your car.
The Japanese automaker this week shared new details about its 0 Series, its latest foray into electric vehicles. Two EVs, the 0 Saloon and the 0 SUV, will debut in 2026, with rounded, offbeat styling that whispers the future. The electric element is only a small part of the innovation planned, Honda stage executives promised to CES in Las Vegas. In a presentation during the show, Honda electrification head Katsushi Inoue emphasized the “new level of intelligent vehicle technology” built into the 0 series.
“Honda's approach to the art of making things has always been human-centered,” he said, then showed off the opposite of sorts: a talking robot built right into the car.
To show the robot in action, Honda screened a short video which showed a driver talking intimately with him-like the system that lives inside his electric car, where the chatbot is represented by a Siri-like animation on the dash. “The Saloon is my partner, always by my side, opening me to new experiences and expanding my world,” said the theoretical Saloon driver during the promotional video. “Tell me more about yourself,” said the car. “Of course,” answered the driver.
0 Series will come with a new operating system, Asimo, named Honda's path-breaking robot from the 1980s. This onboard OS is designed to constantly update its experience according to the driver's preferences. The system will “allow Honda to deliver a personalized ownership experience that will enhance the joy of driving,” the automaker said in a press release.
In fact, evidence that automakers hope to change drivers' intimate relationships with their cars is all over Las Vegas.
“It's a theme throughout CES: You're talking to a machine. You're not connecting with people,” says Jessica Caldwell, the director of insights at Edmunds. “Everywhere you look, there are robots.”
Many automakers and suppliers have launched experiences and design updates that are laser-focused on adapting to drivers' preferences through software systems and interiors—and finding new ways to please them inside. closed (and maybe sad?) cabin.
