Acura will get its own all-electric SUV in the General Motors collaboration.
Honda expects that fuel cell and battery-electric vehicles will account for 40% of its North American annual sales by 2030. This percentage will then double by 2035, before the company switches to zero emission by the end the decade. It has teamed up to General Motors to use its Ultium platform, batteries, and launch a series that will eliminate the combustion engine.
The first one will go on sale in 2024, and it will take the form of an SUV called “Prologue”. Today’s teaser photo/video combo is all about the vehicle’s name, but it doesn’t show the actual design. Later in the year, Honda’s luxury division Acura plans to launch its own electric SUV using the same GM-sourced platform.
This news comes just a few days following Honda’s announcement that it would cease production of its Clarity Fuel Cell and Plug-in Hybrid sedans. The Japanese automaker is also working on its own EV platform. It will be available in the second half the decade. It is known as “e:Architecture”, and will be introduced to other markets in North America.
According to Dave Gardner (executive vice president of American Honda), the electric SUV (sorta) is expected to offer the same “excellent functionality” and packaging as the Honda Civic. It “signals the part it will play in our zero-emission future,” he said.
A report published at the start of the year by Automotive News suggests that Honda’s electric SUV may be smaller than Acura. However, nothing is confirmed at this time. Rumours also claim that the Honda version could have been assembled in Ramos Arizpe in Mexico, while the Acura model is made in Spring Hill in Tennessee.