Honda Prelude revived as sleek electric coupe
New Prelude will "make you want to keep going forever", said Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe
New concept intended to prove brand’s commitment to “joy of driving” into electric age
The Honda Prelude has returned as a sporty coupé intended to demonstrate the brand’s commitment to the “joy of driving” amid the transition to electric cars.
Unveiled in concept form at the Tokyo motor show, the new Prelude is intended to “embody Honda’s unalterable sports mindset”, according to the firm’s president and CEO, Toshihiro Mibe.
“The Prelude concept is a speciality sports model that will offer exhilarating experience that makes you want to keep going forever,” added Mibe.
Honda did not reveal any technical details or a release date for the Prelude, stating only that “we are diligently progressing with development”. Mibe urged the public to “keep your expectations high”.
The Prelude concept was shown alongside two other concepts aimed at the mainstream: the Honda E-like Sustaina-C concept, and the CI-MEV mobility pod.
The Honda Sustaina-C has been created to show how cars can be constructed sustainably. It is made from recycled acrylic resin, which Honda says can also be reused again. “This kind of resource circulation will enable us to transcend the constraints of the limited availability of resources,” said Mibe.
It also borrows design cues from the first-generation Honda City, which was sold as the Jazz in Europe. Given this link, it is possible that the Sustaina-C previews an electric successor to the current, hybrid Jazz, although Honda has not confirmed any such details.
It is not, however, expected to hint at a next-generation Honda E. Rebecca Adamson, head of cars for Honda UK, told Autocar in July that “there won’t be more cars the size of the Honda E”.
As such, the production version of the even smaller CI-MEV concept is not expected to come to the UK.
It is a self-driving, two-seat “micro-mobility” vehicle in the mould of the Citroën Ami, targeted at elderly people in rural environments.
Mibe explained: “Such people tend to have a limited living radius. If there are products that offer easily-accessible, last-mile mobility, people can go places, farther, faster, and more casually.
“And if everyone can enjoy mobility more freely and expand their living radius, they will have more chance to meet new people, which we believe will augment people’s possibilities.”
Honda also displayed General Motors’s Cruise Origin autonomous taxi on its show stand, announcing plans to launch a driverless taxi service in Japan using the pod in 2026.
Additional reporting by Will Rimell