Expect Prologues to fly out of Honda dealerships
NAPA, California — Honda’s first modern electric vehicle, the 2024 Prologue midsize SUV, will make a splash when it arrives in dealerships this spring.
Inside and out, the Prologue looks and feels like a Honda — with a side order of Chevrolet Blazer EV, with which it shares many systems, including batteries, motors and platform.
General Motors’ engineering of those systems has won praise, but the automaker has struggled to build the vehicles using them. The Blazer EV, for instance, was withdrawn from sale in early January, when owners complained about problems charging its battery, along with navigation, entertainment and other features. Sales of the Blazer EV remain on hold as this of writing, Feb. 16.
Honda remains optimistic it will have Prologues in dealerships soon, though. The automaker’s engineers have been monitoring quality for the Prologue, and the Acura ZDX EV GM will build alongside the Cadillac Lyriq in another plant.
Separately, Honda revealed details on what it says is America’s first production plug-in hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle, the 2025 Honda CR-V E:FCEV.
The vehicle will be available for customer leasing in California beginning later this year, and it will be made at Honda’s Performance Manufacturing
Center in Marysville down the road from the Marysville Auto Plant.
Honda’s standard — and to all appearances, bulletproof — system of quality gates have been in place for development and production of the Prologue, chief engineer John Hwang told me shortly before I spent a day driving one of the new EVS.
Unique looks, Honda-approved handling
Honda engineers and designers were involved from the start of the three-year program that led to the Prologue and Blazer.
The Prologue’s exterior doesn’t share a single body panel with the Blazer. The visual differentiation designers created by varying the proportions of two vehicles within an inch of each other in most dimensions is impressive.
The Prologue’s long, low profile evokes a sporty wagon more than the
more upright, practical look of Honda SUVS like the CR-V and Pilot.
Honda calls the design “neo-rugged.” Take that as you will, but it’s a far cry from “badge engineering,” the loathed practice in which vehicles from two brands differ in little but name and logo.
The Prologue’s interior is equally distinctive, with unique controls, displays, colors and materials. Even the air vents are brand-correct. The Prologue presents Honda’s typical narrow horizontal vents while the Blazer uses the directional circular vents that have become a Chevy signature. Competitors:
● Chevrolet Blazer EV
● Ford Mustang Mach-e
● Hyundai Ioniq 5
● Kia EV6
● Nissan Ariya
● Polestar 3
● Tesla Y
● Toyota BZ4X
● Volvo XC40 Recharge
● VW ID4
What it’s like to drive the Prologue
At 192 inches long, the Prologue is 2.9 inches longer than Honda’s Passport, which also seats five. The Prologue’s roof, 64.7 inches off the ground, is 7.5 inches lower than the Passport. The Prologue is 0.5 inch narrower.
All that — plus the Elite’s 21-inch tires and the EV’S unrevealed but undoubtedly significant curb weight — contribute to a stable planted feel on curving hillside roads, under acceleration and braking.
The Prologue’s multilink front and rear suspensions absorb bumps and held the car level and stable in quick maneuvers.
The controls include an 11.3-inch touch screen, dials for temperature and volume and physical switches for other climate controls. The buttons for the parking brake, lane keeping and sport mode are difficult to see and reach on the lower instrument panel over the driver’s left knee.
Honda engineers tuned the Prologue’s suspension and steering for more brand characteristics. The steering is quick and direct. The ride is smooth.
The Elite model has a hotel-style key card and a sport mode that tweaks steering, pedal response and ambient lighting.
The Prologue handled well around the vineyards and hills in Napa County, north of San Francisco.
Safety and driver assist features:
● Automatic high beams
● Blind spot alert and steering assist
● Rear cross traffic alert and braking
● Collision alert and emergency front braking
● Lane keeping assist
● Pedestrian alert
● Rear pedestrian alert
Power, range and charging
The Prologue will offer either frontor all-wheel drive. FWD will have 212 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque from a single motor mounted up front. AWD models will have a second motor in the rear for a total of 288 hp and 333 pound-feet of torque.
Honda hopes to have both models available when sales begin, but only AWD models are available to test now.
The EPA rates Prologue’s standard 85 kwh battery is rated at 296 miles range in FWD models and 281 or 273 miles with AWD, depending on the trim level.
Honda isn’t providing details on charging speed, but it’s safe to assume the Level 2 240-volt home chargers all EV owners will get a full charge overnight. The battery can accommodate up to 150 kw when DC fast charging for long trips.
That’s lower than some EVS claim, but it should be more than adequate in real-world charging, when few vehicles and chargers hit their peak rating and a steady 80-100 kw delivers a meaningful range boost in a convenient time. Honda cites the ability to add 65 miles of range in 10 minutes under ideal circumstances.
Honda will offer adapters to use Tesla chargers sometime this year.
The automaker is also participating in the seven-automaker program to add thousands of new DC fast chargers along major highway routes.
The Prologue will initially be sold in the 18 states following California emission standards:
● California
● Colorado
● Connecticut
● Delaware
● Maryland
● Maine
● Massachusetts
● Minnesota
● Nevada
● New Mexico
● New York
● New Jersey
● Oregon
● Pennsylvania
● Rhode Island
● Vermont
● Virginia
● Washington
How much will you pay for the Honda Prologue?
Prologue prices start at $47,400 for a front-drive EX and top out at $57,900 for an AWD Elite. All prices exclude $1,395 destination charge. That’s at the upper end of Honda’s price range, where a loaded Pilot SUV tops out at $52,480.
The prices are competitive with midsize electric SUVS like the Blazer, Ford Mustang Mach-e, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6 and VW ID4.
The Prologue offers a wide range of features, including:
● Panoramic, opening sunroof with power shade
● Heated front seats
● Bose audio
● Wireless device charging
● Head-up display
● Wireless Apple Carplay and Android Auto
● Power tailgate
● Four USB-C ports
● Google built-in assistant for navigation, apps and more
● Key fob or hotel-style access card I tested a top of the line AWD Prologue Elite that stickered at $57,900.
Honda expects the Prologue to qualify for the $7,500 federal tax credit, along with state incentives for EVS.
2024 Honda Prologue EV trim levels and prices
● EX single motor FWD: $47,400
● EX dual motor AWD: $50,400
● Touring single motor FWD: $51,700
● Touring dual motor AWD: $54,700
● Elite dual motor AWD: $57,900 Source: Honda. Prices exclude $1,395 destination charge.
Comes with built-in Carplay, Android Auto and Google
The Prologue has standard Apple
Carplay and Android Auto, including voice-recognition and an app store powered by Google.
That’s a big deal because GM opted to offer only Google built-in in its EVS, which share the same hardware as the Prologue.
The ability to get GM’S Ultium suite of EV software, batteries and motors and Carplay may be a significant bonus for some shoppers.
In addition, Google maps can calculate the best charging stops on long drives real-time, a key enabler for efficient EV travel over long distances. The system also preconditions the battery to ensure the quickest, most efficient stops when the Prologue reaches the charger.
Why get a Honda Prologue?
There’s finally a Honda that delivers EV performance, technology and social and environmental benefits. A lot of people have been waiting for this, particularly if the Prologue achieves the reliability for which Hondas are famous. Unless something goes wrong, expect Prologues to fly out of Honda dealerships.
2024 Honda Prologue at a glance
Midsize front- or all-wheel drive electric SUV
Seats five
Price range: $47,400-$57,900. (Excluding $1,395 destination charge)
Model tested: All-wheel-drive Prologue Elite
Price as tested: $57,900 (excluding destination charge)
Output: 288 hp; 333 pound-feet of torque.
Battery capacity: 85 kwh
EPA estimated: 273 miles. MPGE gasoline equivalent: 99 mpg city/88 highway/92 combined
Charging time: Up to 65 miles in 10 minutes with DC fast charging Wheelbase: 121.8 inches Length: 192 inches
Width: 78.3 inches
Height: 64.7 inches
Cargo space: 25.2 cubic feet behind rear seat; 57.7 rear seat folded Towing capacity: 1,500 pounds Assembled in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico Contact Mark Phelan: 313-222-6731 or mmphelan@freepress.com . Follow him on Twitter @mark_phelan . Read more on autos and sign up for our autos newsletter . Become a subscriber