With help from General Motors, Honda finally has a mass-market electric vehicle. The Prologue is based on the Chevrolet Blazer EV, which allowed Honda to sidestep the normal vehicle development process. This quick path for Honda to sell its first mainstream EV has delivered mixed results, though. On the one hand, the Prologue has smooth and quiet power, a normal-feeling brake pedal, and a fairly long driving range. And, unlike the Blazer EV, it comes with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Yet the Prologue has some of the same drawbacks as the Blazer EV: Lethargic steering, compromised outward views, and front seats that are short on support.
One big difference between the Honda and GM EVs is which wheels get power. While the Blazer EV is available with rear- or all-wheel drive, the Prologue is available with front- or all-wheel drive.
We bought a Honda Prologue Touring AWD for $56,550—anonymously from an area dealer, as we do with every vehicle we test—for the purpose of this road test review.
As is typical of EVs, the Prologue’s 288 horsepower, dual-motor setup gives the SUV smooth, instantaneous takeoffs from a stop with power that ramps up quickly. Its 6.2-second 0-to-60-mph time is quicker than most vehicles on the road, but it’s about a second slower than many EV competitors, such as the Ford Mustang Mach-E, Kia EV6, and Nissan Ariya. Plus, the Prologue feels a bit lazy if you need a burst of speed on the highway.
The Prologue managed a competitive 277 miles during our 70-mph highway-range test. An 11.5-kilowatt onboard charger facilitates relatively quick home charging, adding 32 miles of range per hour.
We don’t like that adjusting the car’s regenerative braking levels requires multiple steps within the infotainment screen, unlike, for example, the EVs from Hyundai and Kia, which use paddles on each side of the steering wheel to allow the driver to quickly ramp brake regen up or down. In the Prologue, the regen settings are accessed via a tiny “button” at the top of the infotainment screen that’s about equal in size to a hole punch—it’s difficult to press while driving. In comparison, it’s slightly easier to find the corresponding icon in the Cadillac Lyriq and Chevrolet Blazer EV. There’s also a small paddle on the left side of the steering wheel that allows you to add instant-on regenerative braking, but it acts more like an on/off switch that is abrupt to use, rather than a progressive ramping-up like the paddle in the Cadillac Lyriq.
Given that it’s based on the same platform as the Blazer EV, it isn’t surprising that the Prologue has similar handling characteristics. It exhibits minimal body roll through corners, thanks in part to the large, low-mounted battery. But the SUV has vague steering, which doesn’t telegraph much to the driver about tire grip. The steering response is also notably slow, requiring a lot of twirling just to tackle common bends and corners, which is odd for a Honda-branded vehicle. These traits don’t inspire any sporty driving. In comparison, the Cadillac Lyriq has much quicker steering and feels more nimble through corners. Still, the Prologue proved very secure when driven to its limits through our avoidance-maneuver test, thanks to its limited body roll and well-tuned electronic stability control (ESC) system.
Although our Prologue is equipped with 19-inch wheels and tires, compared with the 21-inchers on our previously tested Blazer EV, it only has a marginally smoother ride. Bumps and other road imperfections come through into the cabin in a more pronounced way than they should. It’s particularly noticeable at low speeds, although we also felt stiff punches when driving over expansion joints on the highway. Fortunately, the body remains fairly steady, with well-controlled side-to-side rocking motions.
Like the Blazer EV the Prologue is very quiet, though not up to the level of standout electric vehicles we’ve tested. Road and tire noises are commendably low, but some suspension and tire noise make their way into the cabin on rougher secondary roads. Wind noise is well-suppressed at speeds up to 60 mph, at which point it becomes very noticeable and can dominate the cabin. Honda doesn’t pump the same level of augmented motor sounds through the speakers as Chevrolet does, with the end result being that passengers in the Prologue can hear more electric motor whine than in the Blazer EV. The pedestrian warning sound that is emitted at speeds below 21 mph, and when in Reverse, is quite loud and noticeable inside the cabin, even with the windows raised.
The front seats have a flat shape that doesn’t hold you in place very well, particularly the bottom cushion, and the result is that the driver and front-seat passenger slide around a bit when going through corners. The seat cushions feel similar to the ones in the Blazer EV, but the Prologue’s leather seating surface is taut and resulted in the seats feeling too firm for some of our drivers. A few testers also commented that the built-in lumbar support is very pronounced, even when the adjustment is retracted all the way in. Still, the seats hold up well over long drives and don’t lose their shape, remaining supportive and comfortable enough.
The driving position is well-sorted for the most part, with abundant headroom, a wide left footrest, and a clear view of the gauges through the steering wheel. Some drivers noted that the wide, hard-plastic center console tends to intrude on right-knee space, and that there is a lack of padding in that area. In addition, taller drivers wished that they could sit lower in the vehicle, but they weren’t able to drop the seat height enough.
Forward visibility over the deep, low dashboard is acceptable. However, the wide hood and extremely thick windshield pillars create front blind spots on both the driver and passenger’s sides, such as when looking for a pedestrian at an intersection. In addition, the thick roof pillars, along with the rather chopped windows most of the way around the vehicle, form some significant blind spots to the sides and rear. The Prologue’s side mirrors are larger and more useful than the small ones on the Blazer EV.
The rear seats have plenty of space, but they’re also flat with hardly any contouring and feel a bit too firm. There are two adjustment positions for the backrest, with most passengers preferring the more-reclined one; the forward position felt too upright. Taller passengers said that headroom was tight, which is likely because the headliner is lower due to the panoramic roof in our Prologue. Both knee- and foot room are good, but under-leg support is limited because the bottom cushion is positioned low to the floor. The child-seat anchors at the base of the seatback protrude enough to further compromise comfort for some passengers.
Cabin access is easy, front and rear, and we particularly appreciate the traditional exterior door handles, considering that so many EVs have complex electronic versions that pop-out. The large, rectangular storage space in front of the cup holders on the center console is a useful size and has a grippy rubber pad. It’s far more convenient than the Blazer’s cubby, which has a lid that can damage cell phone cables. But the lip around the space is so shallow that items can slide off during even a moderately aggressive turn.
The interior doesn’t feel very Honda-like at all, which isn’t a surprise given how many GM-sourced materials are spread throughout the cabin. There’s a lot of hard plastic, with just a modicum of stitching or color to brighten up the interior. Things such as the hard rear door window sills, the cheap-feeling center armrest, and the unlined glove box and bin under the center armrest seem out of place in a $56,000 vehicle. There are a few good points, such as the customizable ambient lighting, a nicely padded upper dashboard, and a bit of contracting stitching on the doors and center armrest.
Once the new-car aura wears off, buyers—particularly those coming from Honda products—are likely to be disappointed by the Prologue’s interior. For example, the flimsy column-mounted gear-selector lever and windshield-wiper stalks are ripped straight from GM’s parts bin. Then again, we really appreciate that Honda used GM’s grippy knobs and physical buttons instead of putting some or all of the climate functions into the infotainment touchscreen. This makes it easier to make adjustments without delay or distraction.
The Prologue uses GM’s software platform as the basis for the infotainment system, although Honda modified it to some extent. We find it to be a more approachable version of the user interface that’s in the Blazer EV. The new skin and monochromatic design and graphics are easier to see and read, and the smaller, more conventional screen and graphics work better. Still, the confusing GM menu structure remains.
Fortunately, Honda has not followed GM’s lead in removing Android Auto and Apple CarPlay capability from its versions of these Ultium EVs. While all of these EVs use a Google-based operating system to handle infotainment duties, GM makes users log in to their apps (such as Spotify) directly in the system rather than casting it to the screen via Android Auto or Apple CarPlay. Fortunately, Honda has no such plans for their vehicles. Combined with the pared-down interface, it makes for a much more enjoyable experience.
We are also pleased that the Prologue has a stop/start (on/off) button rather than having to trust that the car will turn itself off when it’s parked. CR drivers have found all too often with new EVs that it’s challenging to make sure the vehicle is turned off after parking and exiting the vehicle.
We don’t like that the emergency flashers button is hidden high up on the overhead console by the SOS and OnStar buttons. Because it’s so small and next to other similar-sized buttons, it’s too easy to hit the wrong button, which could be a problem in an emergency.
Active safety & driver assistance
Just like the GM versions, the Prologue comes well-equipped with a host of active safety and driver assistance features as standard equipment, including automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, automatic emergency braking that operates at highway speeds, blind spot warning, rear cross traffic warning, reverse automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control, and automatic high beams. Rear occupant alert and rear belt-minder systems also come standard.
Unlike the Blazer EV, the Prologue isn’t available with a version of GM’s Super Cruise active driving assistance system. The Acura ZDX Type S does get the system, badged as “Hands Free Cruise.”