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Honda 0 Series EV Prototype First Drive: Post-Breakup Weight Loss

“We don’t have any relationship with GM.”

These were the words Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe uttered to a room full of journalists shortly before we were to drive a prototype previewing the company’s upcoming “0 Series” of electric cars. First announced at CES earlier this year, the 0 Series will be Honda’s big, earnest (and, notably, solo) foray into EV-making.

<em>Chris Tsui</em>
Chris Tsui

Now that it and General Motors have parted ways, it’s time for Honda to do what most people do to get back at their ex after a nasty breakup: lose weight. That’s less of a joke than it sounds—Honda’s big tagline for the 0 Series is “Thin, Light, and Wise.” Using thinner batteries, more compact electric motors, and some smarter production processes, Honda’s future EVs will attempt to be nicer to drive on account of lower weight. This mantra of minimizing the space taken up by the machine and maximizing the space reserved for occupants (a philosophy that’s influenced Hondas for a long time now, if you think about it) should also make for EVs that are nicer to look at from the outside and more spacious inside.

Thin

But first, let’s talk power. Honda didn’t disclose any specific kW figures but electric motors on the front and rear axles are said to be clean-sheet designs that benefit from Honda’s experience with hybrids but aren’t carried-over parts. The inverter is said to be approximately 40% smaller than that of the competition—weight is also down, but the delta there is less than 40%.

Placed low in the chassis is a battery pack that’s apparently 6% thinner than those same rivals (Honda refused to disclose who exactly it’s benchmarking here) and acts as a crash structure. This lithium-ion pack is liquid-cooled, featuring channels in the aluminum die-cast frame where fluid flows. Honda refrained from announcing any specific capacity figures but it’s aiming for 300 miles of range on the EPA cycle. Admirably, Honda is also aiming to limit battery capacity degradation to less than 10% after 10 years using prediction technology and driving data farmed from 5 million hybrid Hondas already on the road—impressive if achieved, considering my last iPhone’s battery degraded by 21% after just four years of use.

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Honda has put a lot of thought into how to produce this battery, too. A 6,000-ton-class megacasting machine, a new flex-cell production system that uses AGVs to join multiple cells, and a proprietary “Constant Direct Current Chopping” (CDC) welding method means an approximate 35% reduction in production cost while the total number of parts has been reduced from 60 to just five.

Light

That thinner, lower, simpler battery sits in between shorter overhangs and makes up a chassis that’s flexible but still strong. It’s so strong, in fact, that engineers say they were able to eliminate the need for braces between the shock towers, allowing for more (good) flexibility when it comes to the chassis and more flexibility, period, when it comes to packaging. Honda says this simplified body structure weighs 220 pounds less than it would have using chassis tech in “initial Honda EVs.”

It’s low, too. The first 0 Series vehicle, the “Saloon” premium sedan that’s due to hit the market globally in 2026, apparently sits at just 55.1 inches tall. For comparison, the current Civic is 55.7 inches tall.

Judging by this tunnel, 0 Series EVs probably won’t have a flat floor in the front row. <em>Chris Tsui</em>
Judging by this tunnel, 0 Series EVs probably won’t have a flat floor in the front row. Chris Tsui

Notably, the 0 Series chassis still seems to have a transmission tunnel-like hump in between the front occupants, something that’s been eliminated in a lot of other EVs. When asked, a Honda engineer said this space houses miscellaneous BEV components like junction boxes and cables.

And Wise

When the Saloon launches in 2026, Honda says it will come with Level 3 assisted driving—that is, conditional hands-free driving—thanks to LiDAR, radar, sonar, and proprietary AI tech that detects obstacles. 3D gyroscopes adopted from the Asimo robot help keep track of motion.

Honda is also implementing camera-and-AI-based tech to anticipate occupant needs. For example, when a camera on the B-pillar sees that the car’s owner is approaching with a baby and stroller in tow, it could automatically open the front door, rear door, and liftgate so all three elements can enter the vehicle. A video also showed the driver’s door of a CR-V shutting automatically when the driver put her foot on the pedal, a feature you might expect from the Bentleys and Rolls-Royces of the world. An interior-facing camera, meanwhile, monitors who’s inside and may make individualized destination or media suggestions on the infotainment system.

Look, I’m all for leveraging The Algorithms to make our lives easier, but I’d be remiss to not acknowledge that all of this sounds like a straight-up nightmare to anyone who still opts to keep a piece of tape over their laptop’s webcam when it’s not in use. In any case, Honda says that face data is stored on the vehicle only and that its tech will, of course, abide by privacy laws from country to country. Take that for what it’s worth.

Driving Experience

Honda let us take a 0 Series prototype out for a few laps of a test track at its R&D center in Tochigi. There were two prototypes present: one wore the body of a CR-V while the other was a short-wheelbase Accord (a car that looks snazzy as heck in black with Type S wheels and wide fenders, by the way), but I only got to pilot the CR-V.

Even the most pedestrian Hondas have always exuded a level of compact, light-footed sportiness behind the wheel. And I’m happy to say that it looks like the 0 Series EVs will continue this tradition. Flooring it on a straight, the black electric crossover shot forward with smooth yet commanding acceleration. No specs have been shared but I’d estimate it’s on par with stuff like the 320-horsepower dual-motor Hyundai Ioniq 5. It’s quick, for sure, but not alarmingly so.

Flicking it into a corner, the car is composed and responsive, and this obedient, buttoned-up demeanor carries through even when it encounters changes in elevation. 0 Series steers by wire but you wouldn’t really be able to tell if you didn’t know. This steering system still features physical redundancy and, for the record, is unrelated to the by-wire steering used in the second-gen NSX. There are four stages of regen braking adjustable via steering wheel paddles and the stopping power—whether that’s via regen or stepping on the left pedal—is strong.

This particular CR-V prototype moved in smooth silence, but a stationary Honda e Digital UX Concept on-site showed off selectable, synthetic ICE car noises of some of Honda’s greatest performance machines (plus a freakin’ HondaJet) and a Honda engineer confirmed that the system will incorporate fabricated gear ratios when on the move—yep, Honda is doing the Ioniq 5 N thing. Even without that stuff, though, the blacked-out CR-V mule delivered a solid and enjoyable driving experience already superior to the actual, production gas CR-V. It’s definitely a whole lot quicker than that car, that’s for sure.

Honda plans to have seven 0 Series models out by 2030. Are these cars shaping up to be Thinner, Lighter, and Wiser than the competition? Frankly, it’s hard to say without a back-to-back comparison and so little seat time. But, judging from this brief, isolated prototype drive, the company is definitely on the right track.

<em>Honda</em>
Honda

Got a tip or question for the author about Honda’s 0 Series EVs? You can reach him here: chris.tsui@thedrive.com