Honda to show off next-gen EVs and motorsport icons at the 2025 Japan Mobility Show

Four of Honda’s most significant upcoming models will be in attendance at the upcoming Japan Mobility Show, formerly the Tokyo Motor Show. Two will be making their world debuts.

The first will be an all-new member of the brand’s upcoming ‘0 Series’ lineup, which it describes as a prototype of a new SUV model. That’s all Honda will say for now, though an image of cars under sheets on the brand’s stand suggests something that will split the difference between the 0 Series Saloon Prototype and 0 Series SUV, both revealed in Las Vegas earlier in the year.

The other new model will be a prototype of the Compact EV we’ve already seen scooting around in distinctive camouflage at various events over the summer, including those in the UK, where Honda is road testing the car to ensure it’s suitably fun to drive. The prototype’s appearance suggests it’ll be based on the brand’s N-One kei car, but with expanded dimensions and a sportier look.

Familiar 0 Series faces 

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The two new cars will appear alongside the existing 0 Series models. The first of those is the 0 Saloon Prototype, a wedge-shaped four-door sitting on the company’s all-new dedicated EV architecture, which the company says embodies a “thin, light, and wise” development approach. Whether any of those characteristics come across in the production car remains to be seen, but our test drive in an Accord-bodied prototype in 2024 showed promise, with a 480bhp output, and smooth-riding air suspension. Steer-by-wire is also on the menu when the real thing arrives in 2026.

The 0 Series Saloon Prototype will be joined by its SUV twin, which looks a little more conventional but rides on the same all-new EV platform. Another proponent of “thin, light, and wise”, Honda promises a spacious and flexible cabin with an “unrestricted field of view”, something that’s been achieved with surprisingly thin pillars for a modern car (that thick C-pillar excepted).

Integrating the battery into the floor has also kept the interior spacious without the need for a very tall roofline, while that blocky rear end has been designed so that luggage can be realistically stacked to the ceiling, rather than just under a parcel shelf.

Both models feature extensive use of aluminium in their construction (an indirect nod to two iconic Hondas of the past, the NSX and the original Insight), simpler battery casings, and smaller, more power-dense electric motors.

Two-wheeled Hondas… and a rocket

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Joining the 0 Series cars in Tokyo will be several other forms of Honda’s motorised transport: an electric battery-swappable scooter called the CUV e: (yes, that colon is meant to be there), a version of the 1100cc Rebel cruiser motorcycle with a dual-clutch gearbox, a new CB1000F, an all-new electric motorcycle, and an electrically-assisted mountain bike called the e-MTB.

Then there are the even larger exhibits: A mock-up of the cabin for the HondaJet Elite II (if you’d like to see how the top 0.1 per cent live…), and a honking great outboard motor, the BF350, to strap to the back of your favourite boat. Biggest of all is a model of Honda’s experimental rocket; Honda isn’t just confined to planet earth, it seems.

Those of a motorsport persuasion will also be drawn to a McLaren-Honda MP4/4, the car that won 15 out of the 16 races in the 1988 F1 season, and a 1994 NSR 500 Grand Prix motorcycle, like the one ridden to dominant victory that year by Mick Doohan. Expect the usual lineup of gleeful kei cars, including an all-electric N-One e: (again with the colons) and the new Prelude, too.

The 2025 Japan Mobility Show runs from October 29-30 for the press, and then October 31 to November 9 for the public.

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