I feel like I’ve said it a million times, and it’s more true every time I say it: people want good, reasonably-priced electric vehicles from brands they trust. And the Honda Prologue continues to prove me right.
Lots of industry-watchers, critics and Honda fans wrote the Prologue off at first. After all, it’s not even technically a Honda product; under the skin, it’s a General Motors EV, re-bodied and re-tuned by Honda with some software tweaks unique to the family. Many of the naysayers believed it’d be an afterthought from another EV-skeptical Japanese car company, a glorified compliance car or a PR exercise to make it look like Honda’s not totally behind in the electric race.
It turns out they were all wrong. The Prologue is clearly finding success all on its own with the strength of its specs, size, aggressive deals and the fact that Honda’s willing to sweeten the deal by throwing in a home or portable charger and covering some of those installation costs.
Honda’s 2024 sales data, released Friday, indicates that 33,017 Prologue EVs were sold in 2024. That’s not bad at all for a car that didn’t really go on sale in force until about the middle of the year. It even outsold the slightly larger, gas-powered Passport by about 500 units.
And perhaps most notably, the Prologue ended up being the best-selling model of all the GM EVs: its sales trumped the Equinox EV (28,874 sold), Blazer EV (23,115) and even Cadillac Lyriq (28,402) in 2024. If these trends continue into 2025, we could well see the Prologue become one of the top EV crossovers behind the still-top-selling Tesla Model Y, a list that includes the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Ford Mustang Mach-E.
I’d say Honda’s onto something here. But that’s not surprising when you look at the specs. The Prologue is a very “normal”-feeling EV that looks and operates much like a conventional gas-powered car, right down to the door handles. Spec-wise, it’s quite solid too: powered by an 85-kWh battery pack, the Prologue comes in front- or all-wheel-drive forms with between 273 and 296 miles of range, depending on trim and equipment. Its maximum charging speed is a so-so 155 kW, and Honda says it can charge from 20% to 80% in about 35 minutes on a commensurate fast charger. Still, with Honda opting to include a Level 2 home charger, a Level 1 or 2 portable charger or credits for public fast-charging, owners get a lot of flexibility on how they want to “fuel” their new electric cars.
And while some will still ding the Prologue for being a GM car underneath, I say: do most people even know that, and do they care? GM’s EVs (née Ultium) are increasingly impressive in many segments, from family crossovers to luxury cars and even pickup trucks. Plus, Honda’s dealers are generally very well-regarded for customer service; there’s a lot to like about the Prologue, rebadge or no.
Past research has shown that many American buyers think that the Japanese automakers, who were early pioneers with hybrid technology, are among the leaders in the EV space as well. That’s not exactly true these days, but that perception is likely proof that people want good EV options from brands they know to be dependable and trustworthy.
Honda is working to catch up with its own EV hardware soon and we’ll see the latest advancements there this week at CES. I’d say that as it plans for an electric future, it had better be taking notes on how the Prologue is doing right now, because there’s a lot to like here.
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