Production O Series EVs Slated for 2026
Will Use New, Honda-Developed Operating System
Honda Motor, which has been a reluctant player in the battery-EV market – it has only one battery EV, which shares tech with soe GM models – displayed a pair of pre-production prototype “O Series” electrics at the giant CES 2025 tech-fest in Las Vegas to show it is getting serious.
The automaker said it plans to start building production versions of the futuristic models next year, complete with a Honda-developed operating system that can facilitate Level 3, or ‘eyes-free’ autonomous highway driving.
The O Series cars – a four door “saloon” and a low-slung SUV – are, like most prototypes and concepts, unlikely to go into production without changes that likely will rid them of some of their more eye-catching design features such as the absence of physical controls for virtually all functions, pencil-thin rear-view cameras instead of mirrors and But the saloon retains most of the features and all of the elongated wedge shape – think Star Wars with a dash of Lamborghini – of the original concept shown at last year’s CES, so who knows?
Saloon, by the way, is simply British English for “sedan,” a the-box vehicle (separate engine, passenger and luggage compartments) with two rows of seating and, usually, four doors.
Both it and the the SUV will be built at Honda’s EV Hub facility plant in Ohio. The company says both will launch first in North America with he O SUV due in the first half of 2026 and the O Saloon following later in the year.
Both vehicles have steeply raked windshields, low rooflines (the SUV is taller, though) and oddly uplifted rear ends that feature large “racetrack” shaped tailgates/trunk lids and lighting arrays.
Inside are thin sport-style seats and screens, screens, screens (digital driver info array, digital infotainment touchscreen and digital screen for the front seat passenger). Except for turn signal-type stalks sprouting from behind airplane-style steering yolks, there apparently are no physical controls – just touch-sensitive and (we expect) voice-activated icons on a screen.
Unseen but all-important is the in-house developed Asimo OS operating system, which Honda says will manage and integrate all of the river assistance and infotainment system components. We don’t know what systems will be available on the Honda O Series EVs, but such integration would, for example, enable a car’s navigation system to communicate with its electronic stability control to alter suspension settings when the vehicle left a smooth asphalt of concrete highway and began tackling a gravel road.
The Asimo system, named after Honda’s 25-year-old Asimo humanoid robot , also will be capable of over-the-air updates.
Level 3 autonomous driving will be available with the “O” series EVs, but it’s not clear how soon or how widespread. Right now, only two states – California and Nevada – allow it. right now and its not statewide in either.
Level 3, or “conditional” autonomous driving permits drivers to remove their hands from the wheel (or yolk), actually a Level 2 feature, and to take their eyes off the road – to scan emails, for instance – while remaining available (no naps) to take over if the automated system stops working for any reason.
Honda says that initially Level 3 driving will be available only on highways. The Honda system will blend artificial intelligence software from a partner, Helm.ai, with behavior models derived from real driver experiences to create an adaptable system capable of rapid response, according to the automaker.
Finally, The Honda O Series EVs will have Tesla Supercharger-compatible NCAS charging ports, will be able to monitor the grid when plugged-in at home to draw power when it is cheapest, and can help make those monthly car payments by selling electricity from its battery pack back into to the grid when energy costs are high or power is in short supply.
