Honda’s Prologue Design Reveal Shows It Is Serious About Honda EVs
This year, I’ve been paying a lot more attention to Honda. In the past, I’ve called them “boneheaded” for doing things like sending Clarity cars to the crusher, not selling the Honda e in the United States, and not even offering a hybrid Acura MDX. That last one is particularly awful because my wife is a huge fan of the MDX and we really wanted to at least see a plugin hybrid.
But, it’s becoming clear that in 2022, Honda is changing directions. The company saw that, at least for the US and European markets, EVs are where it’s going to be, and realized it needed to do something to get back on track, and yesterday.
Honda’s Turnaround
In April 2021, global Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe detailed the company’s plans for sales of electrified cars as part of its goal to carbon-neutral products and operations by 2050. The objective is for 100% of North American sales to be battery-electric and fuel cell electric vehicles by 2040. Curious readers may learn more about this announcement here.
Last July, the company gave us a brief glimpse of its design studio and the work that was being done on the Prologue EV. Not only did it look as though they were taking an inventive approach to designing their EV, but it appeared as if they were in the process of constructing their own version of Chevrolet’s Equinox EV-which is set to be more budget-friendly.
We discovered that the company was planning to release an Acura Precision EV concept a month later. This showed that Acura Design Studio in Los Angeles clearly wanted to show off their design and technological abilities, as well as give customers a taste of what they can expect from future electrified vehicles. These cars will provide drivers with unique manual and full automation driving experiences.
Then, we saw them release a concept for the electric Acura ZDX, giving us more of a clue that they’re taking EVs seriously not just for a few limited-production Hondas, but for the flagship brand as well.
While partnering with GM, another player that’s pretty far behind Tesla, may not seem like the best way to catch up with other players on EVs, appearances are deceiving. Over the previous few years, GM hasn’t done many daring things, but it was preparing to focus on an under-served market sector, particularly the $30,000-$35,000 price range. By reducing the prices of its Bolt EV and Bolt EUV models, as well as announcing a $30,000 Equinox EV model, GM is making it clear that it is serious about competing with Tesla in the electric vehicle market.
With GM giving it a helping hand, Honda has the opportunity to serve that important market sector as well, and do it quickly rather than having to start from scratch with its EV program (and being seriously behind).
Honda’s recent announcement of at least one Honda-branded EV and at least one Acura-branded ZDX EV helps to fill the company’s gap in the EV market. This buys the company time to develop its own platforms (and learn from GM) to become a serious player in the long-term EV market. Future higher-end Acura and Honda vehicles will be 100% Honda, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they still shared some parts and supply chains with GM as the company transitions to building out its own independent EVs.
It all adds up to substantial potential for Honda to return to the game and succeed with electric cars.
The Prologue EV Doesn’t Look Like A Rebadged Equinox
Honda has revealed the exterior and interior design of its all-new Honda Prologue battery-electric SUV, which will be marketed in North America in 2024. The Prologue’s design is characterized by clean, functional “Neo-Rugged” exteriors and interiors that provide plenty of room for adventure inside and beyond city limits.
One of the things I was concerned about when I heard Honda’s first serious EVs were going to be based on GM vehicles was that they might phone it in like we’ve seen in the past with badge engineering. Probably the worst example of this was the Volkswagen Routan, which was a Chrysler minivan with modified headlights and a VW badge up front. It didn’t look like a VW, and was clearly just a rebadged Chrysler.
Fortunately, Honda did a good job of making its Prologue SUV look like something Honda would make, which will greatly help Honda’s loyal buyers follow them into the electric future.
“Our goal was to create a clean harmony based on a rugged SUV image by coordinating the colors and materials to express neo-rugged design styling that’s familiar to our customers and uniquely Honda,” said Masaki Sumimoto, design lead for the Color, Materials and Finish.
The exterior and interior design of the all-new Prologue was developed by the Honda Los Angeles team, which is in charge of heading up the look. A young group of designers set out to create a contemporary and fresh SUV with clean and basic surfacing. The Neo-Rugged design language was created to bring nature’s components inside and outside of Prologue into harmony.
The rear of the vehicle, with its panoramic roof and huge 21-inch wheels, is an indication of this design direction. The front fascia is influenced by the groundbreaking Honda e EV model’s unique exterior.
Prologue was designed with a modern and fresh feel, similar to existing Honda SUVs. Its ample dimensions and spacious interior make it comparable in size to the Passport among Honda’s light truck lineup. Prologue will have a 121.8-inch wheelbase, 8 more inches of length, and 5 extra inches of width in comparison to the all-new 2023 Honda CR-V.
The Prologue will have a large interior, with enough space for passengers and cargo. The Prologue will include a typical fully digital 11-inch driver display screen and an 11.3-inch audio/connectivity display, showcasing a tech-rich cabin.
If you’re familiar with GM EVs like I am (I own a Chevy Bolt EUV), you’ll see right away that there are a lot of GM things going on, especially with the interior. But, they aren’t super obvious to people who aren’t looking closely the way many past badge engineering projects have been. The commonalities are subtle in most cases, and the differences are enough to outweigh the visual similarities.
This shows us that Honda is willing to not just put an H badge on it, but is also willing to use the company’s design language, staking its reputation on the vehicle. If it wasn’t serious about the effort, Honda wouldn’t have done that.
All images provided by Honda.
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