Honda Gives A Preview Of Its Prologue Electric SUV

Even though Honda's upcoming electric crossover is still a few years away, the Japanese automaker released a sketch of the Prologue ahead of a 2024 launch. It was the first Honda to be designed using virtual reality tech, mostly due to the shutdown back in 2020. This new approach also allowed the team at the Honda Design Studio in Los Angeles to work with other designers in Japan.

This new EV is described as an "adventure-ready SUV," and Honda insists that the modern front end shares similarities with Europe's Honda e. The Prologue has a clean design that's typical for most Hondas, but it also mixes in some more futuristic cues. Honda gave this crossover short overhangs and a long hood, thanks to the EV architecture's design flexibility. Aside from the more athletic stance, the Prologue stays close to the conservative styling direction seen on gas Hondas.

Honda plans to co-develop its EVs with GM, and the Prologue will be the first vehicle to take advantage of this. In fact, the crossover might even offer Super Cruise, GM's take on hands-free driving.

“We announced a plan two years ago, positioned as a smart strategy, to co-develop an electric vehicle with GM. What will result is not just a more efficient process, but a great looking new vehicle, the Honda Prologue,” said Mamadou Diallo, American Honda Motor Co.'s vice president of Auto Sales. Diallo also said that the Prologue is only the beginning. In 2026, Honda will build several new EVs based on the company's new e:Architecture platform. A year later, a crop of affordable EVs based on a new platform from GM will arrive.

In order to support the brand's onslaught of all-electric models, Honda will help its dealer network adapt with a more innovative design, which will cater to how modern buyers purchase their vehicles. Honda will give dealers guidelines based on a "tiered approach," which depends on how many EVs each location plans to sell. These guidelines will require dealers to install certain numbers of charging stations, along with other equipment to service and repair the EVs. For example, dealers in areas like California, where EVs are popular, will probably have to provide more charging stations than dealers in places where less EVs are sold.

Do you like what you see with the 2024 Prologue?

Images: Honda