Zero Labs Automotive, known for transforming iconic classic vehicles into performance electric models, and Sunnyvale-based automotive software company Sonatus showcased an extreme application for SDV (software-defined vehicle) innovations including generative AI at CES 2025. The demonstration featured a project centered on a Zero Labs-transformed 1970s Ford Bronco.

Sonatus’ staff reached out to the Zero Labs’ Applied Engineering team to combine Zero Labs’s latest electric automotive platform and low-volume development teams with Sonatus’ leading-edge SDV capabilities. The result is a smart, fully electric 447-kW SUV said to surpass the road performance and vehicle intelligence capabilities of many modern vehicles.

“Why put this level of tech in an older classic vehicle instead of a more modern vehicle?” asked Adam Roe, Founder and CEO of Zero Labs Automotive. “Modern cars are already advanced computers, so it’s hard to fully appreciate the power of the Sonatus SDV technology in the context of something that consumers might not know is already there. Sonatus instead wanted to demonstrate confidence in their technology by implementing it in an extreme case: an abandoned, classic vehicle that was completely analog without any data systems or electric controls in its original form.”

The vehicle features personalization options alongside sophisticated data analytics and predictive maintenance systems. The collaborators say that the project demonstrates how SDV technology can revolutionize both classic and contemporary vehicles, establishing new benchmarks for software-driven mobility solutions.

Highlights of the reimagined electric and fully restored Bronco include a Zero Labs Generation 4 (ZLABS 4.0) platform. The SUV features a modernized interior with redesigned flat floors and 25% more interior space, improved heating, and air conditioning.

Performance enhancements extend to the dual-motor powertrain with more than 250-mi (402-km) range and optional Level 3 DC fast charging. Safety and design upgrades are said to include over 4000 enhancements tailored to classic electric needs.

In August, Roe introduced the ZLABS 4.0 platform on Goldar, a classic first-generation Ford Bronco homage with an all-carbon-fiber body. The vehicles based on the platform will initially be made for four primary formats—SUVs, pickup trucks, muscle cars, and two-door coupes—with a variety of popular models and years supported for each format, including special versions for unibody construction.

ZLABS 4.0 vehicles have optional ride height control, “auto-sensing” rack-and-pinion steering, and significantly improved road performance—while looking “completely classic” inside and out. Digital gauge clusters are recreated from the original designs, and all vehicle diagnostics and controls are behind a hidden screen or viewable from the user’s mobile phone.

Many previously optional Zero Labs features are now standard, including rebuilt frames, upgraded independent front/rear suspension, and now the standard dual-motor configuration. Upgrades were made to digital telematics, custom all-digital gauges, vehicle control unit, controller area network, and optional 5G vehicle connectivity. The company expects classic vehicles equipped with its technology to last well into the future, with their power performance technology to improve regularly, so the battery and software are upgradeable.

At CES, a key technology highlight for Sonatus was the company’s Automator AI, which enables OEM customers to create new vehicle functions quickly, streamline vehicle testing and diagnostics, implement personalization, and deploy customizable fleet management features. In December, the company announced that the application’s functional safety module, Automator Safety Interlock, was certified by UL Solutions to the ISO 26262 ASIL-D standard.

“Sonatus products are in mass production in millions of vehicles, so we recognize the importance of integration with our OEM and tier-1 customers, including ensuring our products can be incorporated seamlessly into functionally safe subsystems,” said Yu Fang, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at Sonatus. “The addition of ISO 26262 ASIL-D functional safety certification provides our customers the confidence to employ this solution for a diverse set of value-creating use cases.”

In addition to its in-house functional safety expertise, Sonatus partnered with leading industry safety consultants LHP Engineering Solutions to co-develop a robust solution and support Sonatus in achieving the ASIL-D level of functional safety.

“LHP leadership has decades of experience in supporting customers to achieve functional safety certification in Automotive and other industries and ensuring their safety programs meet the highest standards,” said Steve Neemeh, President & CTO of LHP Engineering Solutions. “We are proud to support Sonatus to stand up functional safety processes.”

Sonatus’ software platform is in mass production in over three million vehicles from Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis. At CES, Sonatus demonstrated its AI Technician Builder, a no-code platform leveraging generative AI for real-time diagnostics, predictive maintenance, and fleet-wide issue resolution. The company showed its Collector AI newly enhanced with natural language capabilities for sophisticated data collection and in-vehicle automation. Its Updater advanced OTA solution on display addresses SDV complexities developed in collaboration with Elektrobit and is AWS automotive-competency certified.