The Honda is the result of a collaboration between Honda and General Motors. It’s based on General Motor’s Ultium electric vehicle platform. It was supposed to herald the start of a new partnership with several other GM-based Honda EVs to follow, but it now appears to be an evolutionary dead-end, as the deal is off for the future. (From 2004-2007 Honda supplied the V6 powertrain for GM’s Saturn Vue SUV, so there was some history of joint ventures between the two partners.)

Compared to the Honda Pilot, the Prologue has a longer wheelbase, but is 204 mm shorter overall, lower and a bit narrower. Like the related Acura ZDX, the clean-lined Prologue is an elegant machine; it looks nothing like the similarly-sized and chunky Chevrolet Blazer BEV built on the same platform.

The cabin features a wide, slim-line dashboard. The driver faces a small digital gauge pod and there is a large, free-standing screen hovering over the centre of the dashboard that works the infotainment functions. The rest of the cabin is visually clean and some two-tone colour combinations are offered. The long wheelbase should deliver excellent cabin room.

The 85-kWh battery pack provides energy to a dual-motor all-wheel drive system rated at 288 total system horsepower. Range under ideal conditions is stated to be 452 kilometers. Hooked up to a Level 3 charger, the Prologue can add 101 kilometers of range in 10 minutes, and can go from 20 percent charged to 80 percent in 35 minutes.

Active safety is well catered for in the Prologue. Forward collision warning, autonomous emergency braking, front pedestrian braking, active cruise control, blind spot and rear cross traffic monitors and reverse auto braking, are all standard. Front and rear parking sonars, rear pedestrian alert and a 360-degree camera, are optional.

The Prologue will be available only in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia, at least initially. Like GM-branded versions of this platform, production seems to be chaotic. The 2024 Prologue appears to be sold out, the 2025 can be ordered and Honda is recording names of those keen on learning about the 2026 model when details become available. Dealers expect delivery times to be from six months to a year. It’s unclear if quality control at launch is more Honda than GM; GM’s EVs have run into heaps of trouble at launch on a scale that Honda dealers have no experience managing. The learning curve with a new EV based on GM technology will be steep at Honda dealerships.