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Honda believes you you want to talk to your car.
The Japanese automaker this week shared new details about its Series 0, its latest foray into electric vehicles. Two EVs, the 0 Saloon and the 0 SUV, will debut in 2026, with rounded and unusual styling that whispers. the future. The electric element is only a small part of the planned innovation, Honda the leaders promised on the stage to CES in Las Vegas. In a presentation during the show, Honda electrification chief 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 demonstrated sort of the opposite: a talking robot built right into the car.
To show the robot in action, Honda then screened a short video which showed a driver talking intimately with the She-system that lives in his electric car, with the chatbot embodied by a Siri-like animation on the dash. “Saloon is my partner, always by my side, opening me to new experiences and expanding my world,” the theoretical driver of Saloon said during the promotional video. “Tell me more about yourself,” said the car. “Of course,” replied the driver.
The Series 0 comes with a new operating system, Asimo, named after it Honda’s innovative robot since the 1980s. This on-board OS is designed to continuously update its experience according to the driver’s preferences. The system “will enable Honda to deliver a personalized ownership experience that will enhance the joy of driving,” the automaker said in a press release.
Indeed, the evidence that automakers hope to enhance drivers’ intimate relationships with their cars was all over Las Vegas.
“It was a theme throughout CES: You’re talking to a machine. You’re not connected to the human,” says Jessica Caldwell, the director of insights at Edmunds. “Everywhere you look, there are robots.”
Many car manufacturers and suppliers have launched experiences and laser design updates focused on adapting to the preferences of drivers through software and interior systems – and finding new ways to make them happy in the closed (and perhaps lonely?) cabin. .
