The Honda’s Prologue The electric SUV will be based on General Motors’ platform, but Honda says it will have its own unique styling.
The automaker on Wednesday released a video of the design process for the Prologue, slated to launch in 2024. The SUV will have a “Neo-Rugged” design theme, Honda said in accompanying press release.
In the video, Sang-Hyuk Ahn, one of the designers at Honda’s Los Angeles design studio working on the project, says the Prologue will feature a long wheelbase, short overhangs and “capable tires” operate”. He added that the flexible packaging of electric powertrains has given designers more freedom than internal combustion vehicles, especially with regard to front-end styling.
Honda Prologue clay model
Jiro Ikeda, Prologue design project leader, said the video will be somewhat different from the Honda E hatchback sold outside the US. Glimpses of the models in the video and previously released teaser images hint at a design more closely resembling Honda’s current SUVs than the E.
The Prologue is also Honda’s first production model to be virtualized, the automaker said. However, as shown in the video, the designers have also created a traditional life-sized clay model.
Essentially, the Prologue will be based on GM’s Ultium electric vehicle platform, which includes large-format pocket-sized battery cells, a wireless battery management system, a heat pump, and a set of GM-designed motors. GM will also assemble the Prologue and an upcoming Acura electric SUV. The prologue is expected to be assembled with Chevrolet Blazer EV in Mexico, while Acura has been confirmed for the same Spring Hill, Tennessee, plant as the Cadillac Lyriq.
Honda has said that they will target up to 70,000 annual sales for the Prologue — though it won’t be made available in all 50 states initially. That said, this is the first Honda EV to go on sale widely, and Honda is preparing its dealers to sell the EV in larger numbers.
Honda recently phased out the Clarity Plug-In Hybrid, which is also offered in an all-electric version, leaving it with no plug-in models in its lineup in the US at this time. It’s part of a larger shift for Honda to offer more hybrids, including the reborn Civic Hybrid will replace Insight.
Honda plans to start selling electric vehicles based on its own new architecture in 2026. Separately, a project to develop affordable electric vehicles with GM will lead to the production of models for Honda in 2027.
