Honda has given us a look at a 1:1-scale clay model of the first vehicle to come from its partnership with General Motors (GM), in a short video that details the design process.
The Honda Prologue is an all-electric SUV launching in 2024 and underpinned by GM’s latest Ultium battery technology.
At this stage it’s not clear if the Prologue will be coming to Australia, as it’s geared heavily towards the North American market.
GM says its Ultium battery technology supports a total electric range of 724km, although it’s not clear what size battery is required to deliver that figure.
When the Honda Prologue launches it’ll compete against the likes of the Tesla Model Y.
The designers behind the Prologue said in the video it’s been developed using virtual reality (VR) visualisation to allow for collaboration between the Japanese- and US-based teams.
Honda says the Prologue has a “neo-rugged design” and “signals the road ahead for the brand”.
Although the Japanese automaker hasn’t detailed official dimensions for the upcoming Prologue as of yet, it says the Prologue has a long wheelbase and short overhangs.
Honda recently outlined it plans to sell nearly 500,000 electric vehicles (EVs) annually in North America by 2030, and plans to get its US dealers ready for electric power.
GM has recently released cars using its first-generation Ultium batteries. The new architecture’s rollout kicked off with the GMC Hummer and Cadillac Lyriq.
When the partnership between Honda and GM was first announced, the Prologue was meant to be one of two GM-developed EVs for Honda (the second will be an Acura), before the brand rolls out its e:N architecture in the second half of the decade.
But Honda and GM have also more recently committed to “co-developing a series of affordable electric vehicles based on a new global architecture using next-generation Ultium battery technology”.
This partnership is aiming to “enable global production of millions of EVs starting in 2027”, including small crossovers for both automakers.
According to GM and Honda, small crossovers are the world’s most popular vehicle type, and account for roughly 13 million sales annually.
GM vehicles on the new EV platform will be aimed to its core markets in North America, Latin America and China.
e:N concepts
Honda hasn’t provided any details about its product plans for the new architecture as of yet, although it’s likely the vehicles will be designed with North America, Japan, China and Europe in mind.
Models on the e:Architecture will be launched in North America first before being made available elsewhere in the world.
No specifics about the platform, drivetrains or battery packs have been announced yet, but the automaker promises a “sense of unity between the driver and the vehicle” that’s supposedly “unique to Honda”, as well as a “sporty and exhilarating driving experience”.
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