Honda’s first dedicated electric vehicle (EV) will be a midsize SUV with simple, clean design lines and enormous wheels. At least, that’s what the drawing shows.
Honda last year announced plans for a push into EVs that would start with a midsize SUV called the Prologue. At the time, all Honda could say was that it would share GM’s Ultium architecture. Ultium is a skateboard-like platform consisting of batteries, motors, and suspension. Designers can scale it up or down to produce vehicles of many sizes. The Ultium platform is beneath many of GM’s recent and upcoming EVs, including the Cadillac Lyriq, GMC Hummer, and future Silverado EV pickup.
Honda plans to use it through an agreement with GM while developing its own EV platform. Once Honda perfects its system, it plans to release up to 30 new EVs, including a pickup and a high-performance model that may be the successor to the Acura NSX.
For now, though, all Honda has for us is a rendering of the 2024 Prologue. It shows an appealingly simple design with aerodynamic lines. A grille-less front fascia leads back to a steeply raked windshield. In profile, it almost resembles an Audi product, with short overhangs and none of the character lines many automakers use as styling elements in doors and fenders.
The wheel wells seem oversized and may be dramatized a bit for the sketch. Or maybe the Prologue will ride on Silverado-EV-like 24-inch wheels.
The Prologue is slated to go on sale first in the 12 states that have signed onto the Zero-Emissions Vehicle protocol — California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.
