- Honda Design Studio in California leads styling of brand’s first volume BEV coming in 2024
- Prologue is first Honda model designed primarily through virtual reality visualization technology
Honda today released a new video showcasing how its Los Angeles-based Honda Design team led the exterior and interior styling of the all-new Prologue battery electric SUV launching in 2024. Project leader Jiro Ikeda leveraged his 30-years of design experience to assemble a team of talented young designers to develop an SUV motif that is modern and fresh, with clean and simple surface lines – imagined as “Neo-Rugged.”
“Designing the first volume Honda electric vehicle gave us more freedom than a vehicle with an internal combustion engine, and we can stretch our imagination, especially in styling the front-end,” said Sang-Hyuk Ahn, a four-year exterior designer at Honda. “We envisioned Prologue with a longer wheelbase, shorter overhang, and capable tires to create sporty proportions and a stronger stance.”
Additionally, the Prologue is the first Honda model designed primarily through virtual reality visualization technology, used by the team to envision Prologue in different environments and to accelerate cross-collaboration between Honda styling teams in the U.S. and Japan.
“We were able to see Prologue in digital environments that truly resemble the real world,” said Marco Tan, VR and CG designer with Honda Design. “By simulating and evaluating colors, materials, and even lighting in a virtual 3D environment we were able to explore possibilities that took styling to a higher level.”
Prologue styling suggests an adventure-ready SUV that delivers engaging everyday driving and fun weekend getaways with a strong hint of the well-received Honda e in the front fascia. More details on the Prologue will be released in the coming months with customers encouraged to sign up for updates at https://automobiles.honda.com/future-cars/prologue#stayinformed.
Honda Electrification Rollout
Toward its global goal to achieve carbon neutrality for all products and corporate activities by 2050, Honda will introduce 30 new EVs globally by 2030, with a volume of 2 million units. In North America, Honda has laid out an aggressive timeline of EV introductions based on three phases leading to 2030:
2024: Begin sales of the Honda Prologue, co-developed with GM
2026: Begin production and sales of Honda models based on Honda e:Architecture
2027: Begin production and sales of a new series of affordable EVs co-developed with GM
#HondaPrologue #HondaDesign
Sang-Hyuk Ahn, exterior designer, creating a key sketch of Prologue
Marco Tan, VR and CG designer in the Honda Design Studio VR Arena
About Honda
Honda offers a full line of clean, safe, fun and connected vehicles sold through more than 1,000 independent U.S. Honda dealers. Honda has the highest fleet average fuel economy and lowest CO2 emissions of any full-line automaker in America, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) latest data1. The award-winning Honda lineup includes the Civic, Insight, and Accord, along with the HR-V, CR-V, Passport and Pilot sport utility vehicles, the Ridgeline pickup and the Odyssey minivan. Honda’s electrified vehicle lineup includes the Accord Hybrid, CR-V Hybrid, Insight and, in the future, Civic Hybrid. In 2024, the Prologue SUV, Honda’s first volume battery-electric vehicle, will join the lineup.
Honda has been producing automobiles in America for 40 years and currently operates 18 major manufacturing facilities in North America. In 2021, more than 95% of all Honda vehicles sold in the U.S. were made in North America, using domestic and globally sourced parts.
More information about Honda is available in the Digital Fact Book.