#HondaPrologue

Honda leaned on General Motors to help get its EV program off the ground here in the U.S., and it appears that the partnership is paying off in other ways. The automaker recently announced that its upcoming Prologue EV would be eligible for federal tax credits of $7,500, meaning buyers can get around 15 percent off the SUV’s purchase price at the point of sale.

Honda has not been the fastest automaker to the EV table, but it’s slowly announcing new models. The Prologue SUV developed in partnership with GM will be first, but Honda also has vehicles in the works with Sony and others in-house. The automaker recently announced a new EV to be shown at next year’s CES show in January, and what we can see of the design suggests a radical shape.

Honda is gearing up to release its first mass-market EV in the U.S. with the new Prologue, but the rest of the automaker’s electric roadmap is still in flux. It initially announced plans to work with GM and others to develop smaller, more affordable electric crossovers, but the company recently confirmed that it was stepping away from that initiative due to shifting business priorities.

Last month, we reported that Honda and Acura would join Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS). The Japanese automakers rely on General Motors’ EV technology for some new models, and the U.S. company committed to Tesla’s standard early on, so it wasn’t a surprising development that Honda would follow suit. Yesterday, the automakers confirmed the reports and put a timeline on the commitment, stating that they would implement the plugs in new EVs starting in 2025. 

Honda and Acura have been slower than most automakers to the punch when it comes to EVs, but the Japanese companies are working to accelerate their efforts. Partnering with General Motors is part of the process, and the first vehicles to come out of that pairing are the Honda Prologue and Acura ZDX. Today, Acura gave more detail on its electric SUV, which will land in 2024. 

Honda says their first volume electric vehicle, the Prologue, will play nicely with wireless Google built-in plus wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility. Why are we mentioning a seemingly trivial item? Because alert readers know Prologue is baked using General Motors ingredients – and GM recently indicated it plans to swear off smartphone integration in favor of its own interface.

It’s easy to pile on with criticism of the metaverse and Mark Zuckerberg’s ridiculous virtual reality fantasies, but there are plenty of practical uses for the technology. Honda used VR to continue pushing forward with vehicle design during the pandemic. 

Honda has dabbled in EVs, but its first mass-market model doesn’t go on sale in the U.S. until 2024. The Prologue will be the inaugural Honda EV for our market, and today, the automaker shared details and images of the new SUV.

Honda has begun teasing out the electric Prologue in earnest, with its latest offering being a sketch of what appears to be a lifted Civic. Though what we’re actually seeing is the brand’s newest “adventure-ready” SUV tapping into the same inoffensive design language that now graces the ever-popular sedan.

The styling is neutral, perhaps even a little dull. But it’s unlikely to put anybody in a bad mood and is still rounded off in all the places one would expect from an EV. The Prologue looks as though it could come from Lucid, just with a dash of rugged design from Rivian and underpinned by Honda’s current design language. There’s little to gripe about, though there’s also not much to ogle.

Honda has filed to trademark ADX with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), presumably so it can use the name for an upcoming luxury model. While Honda has previously sold vehicles with alphanumeric monikers ending in the letter X, that’s literally Acura’s entire lineup and it’s supposed to be delivering a few new models to round out its rather limited selection.

Last month, we wrote up the news that Honda will be working on a battery-electric vehicle called the Prologue — not to be mixed up with the Prelude — and the company would work with General Motors, using GM’s Ultium battery packs.

Why would Honda, known especially for engine development, pair with GM?

Despite issuing some of the most realistic messaging pertaining to electric vehicles you’re likely to encounter within the automotive industry, Honda has started to come around to making bold commitments that it’ll probably have to revise. In April, the company stated that it wanted EVs and fuel-cell vehicles to make up 40 percent of all new-vehicle sales by 2030 — with the figure climbing to 100 percent by 2040.

Right now, its alternative energy products include the Honda Clarity and marvelously executed Honda E (neither of which are likely to be available in your area). But more vehicles are coming and the brand recently announced the starting point for the business’ battery-electric offensive targeting North America. The whole shebang is supposed to kick off in 2024 when the all-electric “ Prologue” goes on sale.