Honda Teases GM Ultium-Based Prologue Electric SUV in Sketch – CNET [CNET]

Honda’s upcoming midsize electric SUV will be built using GM’s Ultium electric vehicle platform and batteries when it hits the road in 2024.

Japanese automaker Honda released the first sketch of its upcoming Honda Prologue battery electric SUV teased in a sketch unveiled this week and — so far, so good — it looks like it’ll be a handsome ride when it arrives in 2024.

The lead up to the Prologue has been a long one, its development no doubt complicated somewhat by the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Honda first announced the Prologue in June 2021 as the first of what will eventually be 30 new EVs introduced globally by 2030 and the opening step towards its goal to sell 500,000 EVs in North America within a similar term.

The Prologue will be built in partnership with General Motors and will use the American automaker’s Ultium electric vehicle platform and battery packs. Honda will design and build the Prologue’s body and interior atop that architecture, which we’re getting our first peek at today in the released sketch.

I’m told to look for hints of the cute, compact Honda E electric hatchback in the Prologue’s design, but I’m not picking any of that up from the sketch. What I am seeing is more than a little of the 11th-gen Civic’s design DNA — particularly in the front fascia and strong horizontal headlamps. Scale is difficult to tell with just a rendering to go on, however Honda tells us that the Prologue will join the Passport and the Pilot in the midsize-class. With its long wheelbase, wide stance and low roofline, I can’t help but be reminded of the new Mazda CX-50’s proportions. The Prologue’s chunky wheels and tires and “adventure-ready neo rugged” design only reinforce the resemblance.

Penned at the Honda Design Studio in Los Angeles, the Prologue’s designers used virtual reality technology to collaborate with each other during the pandemic and remotely with the vehicle development team across the Pacific in Japan. Honda says that its designers paid particular attention to the Prologue’s minimalist surface shaping and reducing the number of body and panel lines, not only to lend the Prologue a “modern and fresh design” but also to improve aerodynamics, range and cabin noise — an acute challenge in the absence of combustion engine sounds.

Beyond the Prologue, Honda plans a diverse portfolio of electric vehicle and EV platforms leading up to its 2030 goal. The Prologue will be joined by an Acura-branded electric SUV when it hits the road in 2024. In  2026, Honda will begin producing the first new models based on its internally-developed e:Architecture starting in 2026 alongside a series of affordable EVs based on yet another architecture co-developed with GM going on sale in 2027.

To support this upcoming electric wave, Honda is working to train its dealers  to sell, service and educate customers about electric vehicles. The automaker also previewed a new flexible, modular dealership facility design, new requirements for the number and type of EV charging stations at each dealership based the location’s expected EV sales volume and new guidelines for the special tools and equipment service centers will need to maintain Honda electric vehicles.