Honda is finally getting serious about EVs. At CES 2024, it announced plans to launch a line of them called the 0 Series starting in 2026, and it revealed the first two models in the series with a pair of concept cars.
The two concepts are a van-like EV called the Space-Hub, and the Saloon, which is what people in many countries outside the U.S. call sedans. The Saloon concept is no Honda Accord, though; its cheese-wedge shape is almost supercar-like. We’ll see if that dramatic styling carries over to the production version, which Honda says will go on sale in North America in 2026.
Honda chose the name 0 Series for its new EVs because it represents a fresh start. To wit, these are the first production EVs based on a dedicated platform that won’t be shared with internal combustion models. This provides more efficient packaging, but one downside is a floor height dictated by the dimensions of the battery pack, effectively jacking up the passenger compartment. Honda claims its platform will be as thin as possible to create a low floor and thus sleeker, more aerodynamic vehicles. Honda claims it will also apply lessons learned from racing to aerodynamics.
The 0 Series EVs will get advanced driver aids based on the Honda Sensing Elite system that launched in Japan in 2021 (but hasn’t yet been offered in the U.S.), with a next-generation system arriving later in the 2020s. By that time, Honda also anticipates advanced battery tech that will reduce fast-charging times to just 10 to 15 minutes for a 15% to 80% charge. And those batteries will lose less than 10% of their original capacity after 10 years, Honda claims.
Until the 0 Series EVs arrive, Honda will sell two electric models made by General Motors. Scheduled to go on sale later this year, the Honda Prologue and its luxury Acura ZDX sibling are based on GM’s Ultium component set, specifically the battery pack and chassis used by the Chevrolet Blazer EV and Cadillac Lyriq. But it’s unclear whether current production issues with the Ultium EVs will affect the launching timing of the Honda and Acura models.
The 0 Series models show that Honda has had the resources to engineer its own EVs all along. However, the automaker has been more enthusiastic about hybrids and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, keeping U.S.-market EV efforts limited to the low-volume EV Plus, Fit EV, and Clarity Electric. That attitude is finally changing.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.