As we talk about a car that’s slated to
be the first of thirty EVs to follow from Honda, and one that’s an SUV, huge interest
for it in the US, is forgone. That car is the Honda Prologue. It’s a car we briefly covered in our video
on the Ultium Five. It being one of the five we featured that
shares GM’s Ultium platform, with cars like the Chevy Blazer. You can check that video here or in the description. The Honda Prologue, is a mid-sized SUV, that
was announced in the US on the 28th of Septembe
r, 2023.. We now have a break-up of the actual specs,
and we will like to share them here. Followed by our impressions, and with other
things, that we have learnt. The Honda Prologue has listed three trims. Called the EX, the Touring, and the Elite. Two single-motor, front-wheel-drive trims
and three all-wheel-drive ones. There is one front-wheel and all-wheel drive
option each, in the ‘EX’ and the ‘Touring’. And an additional standalone, all-wheel-drive
one in the top-spec Elite. The rear-motor
s in the all-wheel-drive trims
are induction motors, with the major work-load in the front. All the five options have an 85 kWh battery
pack. That’s probably 89 kWh gross. Every one has a peak DC rate of 155 kW, which
is clearly on the lower side. Though that could be compensated, if the charging
curve is good, which we do not know as yet. But given that, we would have loved to see
225 to 250 kW. The 11.5 kW or 48-amps on-board AC charging
is adequate. The operating voltage of this car is quite
low, around 320 to 340 odd volt and hence it max’es at a 350-amps request from the
charger. So a version three Tesla Supercharger will
max the capacity. The Tesla adaptor will follow in sequence
of the makers signing up for it. Honda was pretty late, and hence will be down
the line for the adaptor. To go with that Honda is offering a 11.5 kW
home charging station with a $500 credit towards installation and a $100 credit towards public
charging. A 7.6 kW electric vehicle charging equipment
with a
$300 public charging credit and $250 incentive for home installation. That’s all far better than the random free
charging rolled out by some brands. The front-wheel drive trims, in both the EX
and the Touring, are estimated to have 296 miles of range. The first two all-wheel-drive trims are estimated
at 281 miles, and the standalone Elite with 273 miles. Those are all decent numbers and we’ll keep
an eye on the real-world performance. Every trim brings a towing capability of 1,500
lbs. The fron
t-wheel-drive trims bring 212 horse-power
and 236 lb-ft of torque. The number is 288 and 333 for the all-wheel-drive
trims. Every trim is 192 inches in length with a
121.8 inches wheelbase, like the Honda Passport, and 78.3 inches in width. The differences are only in the height and
based on the drive-systems. The all-wheel-drive trims are 65.2 inches
in height and the front-wheel-drive trims are 64.7 inches in height. The ground clearance is 7.9 inches for the
front-wheel drive and 8.1 inches i
n the all-wheel-drive trims. The storage is by the trim groups. The EX has 25.2 cu.ft of rear storage and
57.7 cu.ft with seats folded. The number is 23.7 cu.ft and 54.5 cu.ft in
the Touring and Elite trims. The EX front-wheel-drive is 4,932 lbs, The
EX all-wheel-drive is 5,086 lbs. The Touring is 5,053 lbs and 5,207 lbs, in
similar drive systems. And the Elite is 5,207 lbs. The Prologue appears set for a very sporty
drive, with its low center of gravity. It has an ‘active sound control’ functio
n
that actually generates sound linked to the acceleration & deceleration of the car. Not something it’s the first to do, of course,
but clearly a distinct feature. Google’s software seems to be improving
with estimating charging on its navigation. Though this is something we’ve not tried
as yet and even with those illustrations checked in a stationary state, it’s something that
will best be known only on a real road-trip. The car has an 11 inch digital instrument
cluster and an 11.3 inches cent
er display. It supports both wireless Apple CarPlay and
Android Auto, has 2 USB-C ports each, in the front and rear, has one 12-volt socket in
the front console and one in the rear cargo area, in addition to one 110-volt outlet in
the rear console. It has a multi-link front and rear suspension. That will add to the comfort, on top of the
very roomy interiors the designers seem to have achieved. And we are surprised by the relatively low
variables it has achieved with power & performance. The 288
horse-power will be very impressive
against a gasoline car, but is be very low for an electric vehicle. The car has a 80% daily charging recommendation. If you open the front trunk you will see all
old-school General Motors. There is no front trunk, and all you will
be greeted with, is wires and components that befit an internal combustion car. Just a reminder, that it’s ages yet for
legacy automakers to design good electric vehicles. Not only are the wires meshed all over, it’s
also packaged p
oorly. I would be wary of the charging of its 12-volt
battery by its high-voltage one, after the car has been stationary for a long time. Best to check with the engineers, before getting
in, generally with the 12-volt battery issues. The rear head-room and the trunk height both
seem short, though the rear leg-room and the volume of the trunk both look fine. We will add a link to the full set of features
in the description. There is some mismatch we see in the ambitions
of this car, and the produ
ction numbers from GM’s battery unit. In light of GM’s own needs with its other
cars slated for release on the platform, and their huge, likely under-performance assembling
Ultium batteries. Based on reports we hear, GM has faced issues
assembling the Ultium battery modules, even after getting the difficult task of producing
adequate cells, right. This is an evolving story to watch on the
sides, but with a huge bearing on the car in focus here, which relies on the Ultium
Platform. Honda however
has continued to maintain its
goal with its numbers for the Prologue. I assume backed by the contractual obligation
of GM. So that’s something to track as we move
forward. The Prologue or at least some trims of it,
are manufactured in Mexico, and hence those may qualify for the tax credit. This is probably the beginning of that route
to the incentives, with big makers setting up plants in North America. On the whole this is a great looking GM car,
with a Honda batch, with miles in front of it on
getting things right with the software,
displaying the most user optimised information, deeply integrating with the software needs
of an electric car, and enhancing the user experience. We will continue to bring to you, more information
on the Prologue and other electric vehicles, as we keep learning. If you want to see our video on the February,
2024, mid-quarter price check of Tesla cars, click here or in the description. See you in the next one.
Comments
Thx for your explaining