Honda Prologue is an upcoming EV from Honda using General Motors tech.
Honda Motor Company yesterday announced that its first high-volume battery-electric vehicle (BEV) would be called the Prologue. For now, the Prologue is meant exclusively for the US market and it will be available there in 2024. Honda also confirmed that it would be also be building a separate electric Acura SUV on the same platform as the Honda Prologue.
Both would be designed around General Motors’ Ultium batteries and use a global EV platform that GM and Honda are sharing. The partnership with General Motors in the US market was officially announced last year in September with strong rumours building momentum in April of 2020. However, the Joint Venture between the two companies around battery electric vehicle development traces its roots back to 2018.
Honda keeps referring to the Prologue as its ‘first volume battery electric vehicle’, even though it currently sells the Honda E in Europe and Japan. Only about 15,000 units of those are expected to sell annually and that’s probably why it’s labelled as such.
Honda aims to sell only zero emissions vehicles in North America by 2040 and this Prologue is the first major step in that direction. Having said that, they’ve also discontinued their hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle, the Clarity by shutting down their Sayama plant.
Here’s the press release with more.
PRESS RELEASE
Honda today announced that its first new volume battery-electric vehicle will be named “Prologue,” signaling a new electrified era that will lead to the company’s vision for 100% zero emission vehicle sales in North America by 2040. An all-new SUV coming to market in early 2024, the battery-electric Honda Prologue will be highly competitive with the functionality expected by Honda customers. More specific details about the new vehicle will be released over the coming months, and Honda will engage with prospective EV customers throughout the launch starting with a new webpage at https://automobiles.honda.com/future-cars/prologue.
In addition to the Honda Prologue, the company will introduce an all-electric Acura SUV in the 2024 calendar year. Both will utilize the highly flexible global EV platform powered by Ultium batteries based on the company’s strategic partnership with General Motors. Honda also plans to launch a new series of EV models in the second half of the decade based on a new e:Architecture, with development led by Honda.
In April 2021, Honda global CEO, Toshihiro Mibe, announced a vision to achieve carbon-neutrality for its products and corporate activities by 2050, including key targets for sales of electrified vehicles. This vision calls for the sales ratio of battery-electric and fuel cell electric vehicles in North America to progress from 40% by 2030 and 80% by 2035 to 100% by 2040. More details about that announcement, are available here.
Honda Electrified Vehicle History
Honda has a long history of leadership in bringing electrified vehicles to market in the U.S., beginning almost a quarter century ago with the EV Plus electric vehicle (1997); to America’s first hybrid, the Honda Insight (1999); the Honda FCX (2002), the industry’s first fuel cell vehicle in the hands of individual customers, and the Clarity series (2017). As Honda prepares for the launch of Prologue, the company will introduce hybrid-electric systems to more core models to continue to reduce CO2 emissions and bridge customers to the volume battery-elecric vehicles now in development.
Honda achieved record sales of electrified vehicles in each of the past three years, with that sales momentum continuing in 2021. Led by CR-V Hybrid and Accord Hybrid, Honda has just recorded its best-ever first-half year of electrified vehicle sales.
