Honda Says The New Prelude Will Not Be The 'Sportiest, Zippiest Car'

Honda says the Prelude concept is headed for production. Not as an EV, but as a hybrid. The new coupe could be available in as little as two years, or around the mid-2020s, according to CarsGuide. But the return of the Honda Prelude will be less about performance and more about practicality. Despite its sporty looks, the upcoming Prelude hybrid is not really going to be a sports car.

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Honda’s Large Project Chief Engineer, Tomoyuki Yamagami, tells CarsGuide that the new Prelude will be a practical version of the acclaimed coupe, which has been praised for its handling and performance in the past. Per CarsGuide:

“This isn’t going to be the sportiest, zippiest car that’s going to be tossed into the circuits, so that’s one thing,” he said.

“The other one is, this is going to be the ‘prelude’ for all of the electric vehicles that Honda is going to be launching.

“So that is why, because it’s going to be one of the first such models, we thought the name Prelude just best fits this model.

“We’re developing this as a four-seater, so you will be seeing a second row with two seats available as well.”

When it debuted at the Japan Mobility Show, the new Prelude seemed like it might be one of a handful of sporty two-door EVs that would mark a return to the Golden Age of Japanese performance cars. Like Bubble Era cars, but electric.

Photo: Honda

It seems the Prelude will instead be in the spirit of the Toyota Prius or Nissan Leaf — both neat little cars — as a hybrid that’ll reportedly borrow its drivetrain from the current Civic e:HEV and CR-V hybrid, according to CarsGuide.

Those Honda hybrids make up to 181 horsepower and 247 lb-ft of torque, which means they can sprint from 0-60 miles per hour as fast as the Subaru BRZ and Toyota GR86. That’s not slow per se, but it’s not the performance most were imaging from a new Prelude that would have been powered by an EV drivetrain.