When Jeremy Clarkson says something about cars, it’s either going to lead to people wholeheartedly agreeing with him or people revolting in disgust. A few years ago, Clarkson claimed that modern electric vehicles are boring appliances that can’t be reviewed. He then called them poop, but didn’t use the PG word for feces.
Electric vehicle owners may have taken offense with Clarkson’s statements, but here’s the thing, he’s right. Modern EVs are dramatically different from gas-powered cars of the past. They operate differently, feel different, and perform differently. If your car driving experience is with muscle cars that leave a trail of fuel in their wake, sports cars that tingle your senses, or diesel trucks that roll coal, EVs will certainly be disappointing. The issue with Clarkson’s statement, is that it doesn’t account for the fact that EVs have their place in the industry.
The 2024 Honda Prologue won’t raise your heartbeat, it won’t push you to take the long way home, and it won’t be the kind of car that you use as your screensaver. Fortunately for Honda and interested EV buyers, these qualities don’t make the Prologue a bad EV. It may be boring, but it’s competent and sensible, which are two things new EV shoppers will appreciate as they transition into the world of electric cars.
What The 2024 Honda Prologue Gets Right
The all-new 2024 Honda Prologue is the Japanese brand’s third attempt at an all-electric EV. It follows the long-dead Clarity EV and Fit EV and gives Honda a competitive option in the growing class. The Prologue may not be Clarkson’s idea of a daily driver, but it will be for a lot of other drivers. It has a good amount of range, a roomy cabin, and plenty of advanced tech.
Competitive Range
For some reason, 300 miles has become the arbitrary number for range for shoppers looking to purchase an EV. With up to 296 miles of range, most shoppers won’t have range anxiety with the Prologue. Additionally, the Prologue can go from 20% to 80% charged in roughly 35 minutes when plugged into a DC fast charger. That’s quick enough that you aren’t spending hours at a charging station when you’re looking to go home after a long drive.
Spacious Cabin
With a wheelbase that’s roughly eight inches longer than the compact Honda CR-V, the Honda Prologue has a roomy cabin. Adults won’t have a problem sitting in the back of the Prologue on long drives, as the SUV features 38.1 inches of rear headroom and 39.4 inches of rear legroom. The Prologue also has a roomy cargo area with 25.2 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats and a total of 57.7 cubic feet of cargo space.
Smooth, Comfortable, And Quiet
The Honda Prologue isn’t the sportiest EV in the segment, but it’s a great option as a daily driver. The Prologue’s electric powertrain doesn’t bring blistering acceleration, but it brings better performance than most turbocharged four-cylinder engines found in modern SUVs.
Ride quality is fairly comfortable for an electric SUV, though the Elite trim we tested had a few jarring moments over really big potholes and ruts in the road. If your roads are any better than Baltimore’s chewed-up tarmac, you’ll probably have a better experience in the Prologue.
Of course, one of the best qualities of electric vehicles is how quiet they are and it’s the same case with the Prologue. The EV also has physical controls for the HVAC controls, which are a welcome change over most of its rivals that have touch-capacitive controls or require you to use the central touchscreen for every single control.
What The 2024 Honda Prologue Doesn’t Do Well
While the 2024 Honda Prologue will appeal to some shoppers, it feels more along the lines of a vehicle that checks boxes instead of one that highlights where Honda is heading in the future or the best of what the brand has to offer currently. The Prologue exists because it needs to. And when something like that happens in the car world, it means that the car is competent, but not enjoyable.
Disappointing Performance
For a company that sells the Honda Civic Si, Civic Type R, and Prelude, the 2024 Honda Prologue is disappointing from a performance standpoint. The Prologue is available with powertrains that range from 212 to 288 horsepower. The Elite trim we tested was fitted with the dual-electric powertrain.
The Prologue feels peppier than similarly sized SUVs with small turbo-fours, but it’s one of the slower options in the electric segment. With a zero-to-60 mph time of approximately six seconds, the blistering, neck-snapping acceleration that electric cars have become known for is missing with the Prologue.
It’s a similar case with handling. The Prologue doesn’t do anything to excite when roads get curvy. The electric SUV has relatively slow steering, minimal feedback, and a chassis that feels more oriented to daily driving than spirited jaunts.
Chevrolet Roots
The hardest thing during my week with the 2024 Honda Prologue was to try to think of the Prologue as a Honda. Enthusiasts will know that the Prologue is essentially a Chevrolet with different badges and styling. It’s easy to look at the Prologue from the outside and forget that it’s a Chevy, but it’s harder to do so from the cabin. Material quality, interior controls, and the underlying infotainment system are the same in the Prologue as the Blazer EV.
As a Honda fan, it’s disappointing to see Honda share so many qualities with Chevrolet. I understand that making electric vehicles can be expensive and difficult, forcing automakers to partner on vehicles. The issue arises when one automaker gives up a little too much of its DNA to bring a vehicle out on the road. Hyundai has found a great way to keep its vehicles separate from Kia, despite the two being corporate twins.
One day, Honda will come out with an EV of its own. I suspect that EV will be a better vehicle than the current Prologue.
Verdict
Honda’s history with electric vehicles is a troubled one, with vehicles like the Clarity EV and Fit EV. The 2024 Honda Prologue should fix that, as it’s a far more competitive EV. Most shoppers will find the Prologue to be a solid EV that meets their needs. It has a competitive amount of range, a good roster of standard tech, a relatively comfortable ride, and a decent amount of interior space. The Prologue won’t appeal to enthusiasts or individuals who yearn for the old days, but as a machine that will help make EVs more mainstream, the Prologue does its job with a face that doesn’t match its badge.
