2024 Honda Prologue Review: A Wrapper-Fresh EV

The verdict: The 2024 Honda Prologue is the first — and last — electric vehicle of its kind, serving as a solid and mostly competitive electric SUV that, as its name suggests, paves the way for future ground-up Honda EVs to come.

Versus the competition: While the Prologue’s starting price undercuts its platform-sibling, the Chevrolet Blazer EV, contenders in the form of the Tesla Model Y, Nissan Ariya and forthcoming Chevrolet Equinox EV bring the fight for less. The Prologue’s killer app? Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a feature none of the Chevrolets nor Tesla offers.

An automaker’s first mass-market, full-production battery-electric vehicle is often almost more conversation than car. So it goes with the all-new 2024 Honda Prologue, though much of this discussion centers on the philosophical rather than the physical. Understanding what the Prologue presents from a pure butts-in-seat, hands-on-wheel perspective is simple; everything else requires extrapolation.

Related: 2024 Honda Prologue: The Brand’s First Electric SUV Is a Joint Effort

Developing a dedicated, competitive, current-generation EV platform from the ground up is monstrously expensive, and not something that every automaker can manage as it juggles extant product lines and manufacturing capabilities primarily geared toward internal combustion vehicles. Pivot fast and hard to wide-scale EV production, and your profit pipeline shuts off like a garden hose; take too long to plug in and you’ll miss the boat both from a market and legislative perspective. It’s a razor-thin wire to walk.

Honda found a solution in collaboration, forming a now-dissolved $5 billion technical partnership with GM in 2022 for a series of small, affordable EVs. As part of that, Honda gained access to GM’s existing Ultium EV platform for a series of electrified vehicles serving as stopgap battery-electric crossovers to raise customer awareness and show zappy solidarity with the ongoing electric revolution, all before the real entree arrives in the form of all-new, all-Honda EVs sometime around 2026.

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Climbing the Family Tree

Enter the 2024 Prologue and 2024 Acura ZDX. Absent a reference example of the source material, the exterior styling of these SUVs present as Honda thoroughbreds, if slightly unconventional in proportion. In reality, both are Honda/Acura wrappers around the core architecture of both the Chevrolet Blazer EV (Honda) and Cadillac Lyriq (Acura) right down to powertrains, battery, interior structure and switches. Don’t believe anything to the contrary. On paper and in photos, it’s obvious; in the driver’s seat, it’s inarguable. The Prologue utilizes a (rebranded) Chevrolet key fob, a Chevy start button, a Blazer EV steering wheel, GM’s OnStar emergency services and GM-branded componentry under the hood. And when the Prologue enters full-scale production, it will exit from a GM assembly plant in Mexico.

With that out the way, understand that all of this mechanical matchy-matchy isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Taken purely within the context of a controlled testing environment, I found the Blazer EV to be a well-designed electric SUV with competitive features and above-room-temperature driving dynamics. I only take umbrage at the eye-watering pricing that I said in our review has it encroaching into Cadillac territory and risks it being upstaged by the Equinox EV.

Style and Substance

Let’s first dive into whether Honda successfully parsed its brand identity unto the Blazer, and what GM did (and didn’t) keep for itself. Dimensionally, it’s a wash, with an identical 121.8-inch wheelbase and less than half-an-inch deviation in length, width and height. The 7.9-inch ground clearance is also shared, but passenger space tips in favor of the Blazer EV in most categories.

Beyond spatial similarities, I personally think it’s a stylistic job well done. Operating within the strict parameters of its provenance, the design team effectively tailored a Honda suit that succeeds in conveying the model’s official “Neo-Rugged” tagline. It’s butch, slightly aggressive and has a splash of futurism. Note, too, the new retro font for the “Honda” script on the liftgate — a brand first that you can expect to see on future models.

Two powertrain flavors are available at launch, your pick between single-motor front-wheel drive or dual-motor all-wheel drive. Both suck electrons from the same 85-kilowatt-hour battery pack, and FWD EX and Touring trim levels get a manufacturer-estimated 296 miles of range on a full charge; the same trims drop to 281 miles of range in AWD configuration (official EPA estimates are not yet available). Splurge for the top-of-the-line AWD-only Elite trim and you’ll scoot an estimated 273 miles before it all goes dark. And when it does, plugging into a DC fast charger can net up to 65 miles in about 10 minutes of charging and bring the battery from 20% to 80% in 35 minutes, according to Honda.

Less Performance, More Practicality

There’s 212 horsepower and 236 pounds-feet of torque on tap in the FWD Prologue, and 288 hp and 333 pounds-feet with AWD. Honda is mum on official 0-60 mph times for either setup, but Chevy’s claim of a six-second scramble for the Blazer EV RS eAWD feels right on the money to our trained tuchus. I spent all of my seat time in an Elite AWD trim, and though acceleration wasn’t even hot-hatchy, I never wanted for on-ramp pace or passing power. That said, if you seek a side of abdominal pain and jellied eyes with your dual-motor EV, look elsewhere; the Prologue’s AWD is more pragmatic than performative.

Approach it not as a battery-draining full-time setup, but as an electric take on the familiar AWD systems found on conventional gas-powered SUVs. In models like the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4, clutch packs and differentials direct power to the rear wheels only when needed, usually when there’s slippage detected or in a low-traction environment. If our (educated) speculation holds true, the Prologue’s rear-mounted induction motor only engages in bursts, with the majority of propulsion managed by the more powerful, front-mounted permanent-magnet motor.

The Prologue has solid dynamic capabilities that push it a rung above workaday crossovers like Honda’s CR-V and Passport, if only just. I attribute most of the additional capability to the EV’s lower center of gravity and a pinch of Honda’s signature chassis razzle-dazzle. That’s fine and dandy, as I suspect a grand total of zero buyers will pick the Prologue for its sporting character. What will stand out to most is the Prologue’s braking poise, especially the near-seamless brake-blending between the physical brakes and regenerative system. Depending on your preferred setting (Normal, High or Off), engaging these brakes is nearly as smooth and modulable as a normal system. The same cannot be said for the steering; notably slow, there was an almost observable delay between steering inputs and responses that was slightly frustrating during both low-speed maneuvers and when maintaining position in the center of the lane.

Cabin Curation

Speaking of frustrations, let’s chat interior. Materials in the Elite are, for the most part, a cut above what you’d find in any other Honda save top trims of the Pilot and Odyssey.  Stylistic presentation is also perfectly on brand, with distinct Honda tinsel and trim spread throughout the cabin. My test vehicle wore a fetching combination of contrasting white-over-black trim, seasoned with teal accent lighting that mirrored the rich exterior color. The steering wheel is a carryover from the Blazer EV, but a Honda-specific horn cap brings it well in line with the brand’s established design language. The center console was my biggest gripe; I found the large accoutrement pad meant for phone, keys and sunglasses visually off-putting, especially given the upper portion’s lack of adornment beyond two USB-C ports and a 12-volt socket.

Aesthetics aside, the top trim’s feature set is mostly representative of its juicy price tag (we’ll get there). Leather upholstery is backed by heated and ventilated functions for the front seats, dual-zone automatic climate control, a heated steering wheel, panoramic moonroof, wireless charging, Bose premium audio and a head-up display. Tech is nearly universal between trims, as all Prologues infotain with a standard 11.3-inch touchscreen mounted dashtop and an 11-inch driver display playing support. Like its Chevrolet counterpart, Google Built-In forms the digital architecture, with integrated Google Maps and Google Assistant functionality. Unlike its Chevrolet counterpart, all Prologues proudly pack Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone connectivity — and it’s wireless! This could prove a genuine decision-maker for buyers cross-shopping the siblings, and I have to think Honda fought for the integration. Smart move.

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So, How Much?

It all comes down to pricing. With a starting price of $48,795 (including $1,395 destination), the Prologue aggressively undercuts the Blazer EV, which starts at $56,715. However, Chevrolet had a $7,500 cash incentive on the Blazer EV as of publication, lowering the SUV’s base price to $49,215. Seeing as the entry-level Chevy is currently only available in eAWD configuration, it butts headlights with the $51,795 Prologue EX AWD, and the maxed-out Prologue Elite runs $59,295 to start.

While I’m going to hold off on comparing features, materials and trim breakdowns for a potential head-to-head comparison review, I don’t need to line the spec sheets up to know the Prologue is still a pricey proposition, especially considering competition from the significantly cheaper Tesla Model Y and Nissan Ariya. For both the Honda die-hards and the Apple CarPlay and Android Auto faithful, the Prologue makes for a compelling entrant into the hyper-competitive electric SUV segment, but if you have the luxury of time, you may want to wait and see what Honda’s fully in-house EVs that are a few model years away will be like. If you’ve got a garage to fill soon, perhaps the forthcoming Chevrolet Equinox EV will serve your purposes — and bank balance — better.

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