The New Honda Prelude Needed to Be an EV

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Honda is leveraging memories from the 1990s and early 2000s by bringing back the Prelude as a "performance-focused" hybrid sports car.The outcome is a $43,000 vehicle that looks impressive on paper, but lacks strong competitiveness in practice.. Honda ought to have developed it as an electric vehicle.

In today's economic environment, the number of buyers who have more than $40,000 to spend on a new vehicle is quite limited. Moreover, those individuals with that level of funds who are open to sacrificing the practicality of a sedan or crossover usually look for a more traditional driving experience, such as a manual transmission, or they desire something with substantial performance. The Prelude does not offer either, even though it features an advanced CVT with the S+ Shift system and only delivers 200 horsepower.

Although the Prelude uses the braking and suspension parts from the Civic Type R, it isn't intended to be a track-focused vehicle, so most drivers won't truly need it for that purpose.feelThe enhanced handling provides additional advantages over the already strong Civic Hybrid, which is priced approximately $10,000 lower with similar features. Although it's challenging to evaluate performance vehicles objectively, one might argue that the Civic Type R's performance justifies its higher cost compared to the regular Civic. However, I don't believe the Prelude's driving experience is significantly better by $10,000 than its more practical counterpart.

Read more: Why Formula One Engines Shifted From V12s to V6s

Who Is Likely to Purchase This?

Let's look at the hypothetical buyer for the Prelude. This isn't the car that someone randomly walks into a dealership and buys. Honda knows that nostalgia can be a powerful force, and they're targeting this model directly at someone like me who grew up with 90s and early 2000s imports and regularly read Sport Compact Car magazine. My first exciting car was a '95 Prelude Si 5-speed (non-VTEC) that I purchased for ten thousand dollars, and then I kept "upgrading" it over the years with a cold-air intake, headers, cat-back exhaust, clear taillights, and a coilover suspension system that probably messed up the original setup.

I am in a stage of life and financial situation where a Prelude could be a good fit. My children are old enough to either sit in the front seat or curl up in the back of a coupe and still be comfortable. My current vehicle is a 2015 Volkswagen GTI with a manual transmission, but we also own Honda vehicles, as our family's main car is a 2019 Odyssey. When it's time to upgrade from the VW, I wouldn't mind another Honda. However, the charm of the Prelude just doesn't appeal to me. I understand the attraction of the Civic Type R if I were looking for a more intense driving experience than the GTI, or the Civic Hybrid if I wanted better fuel efficiency while still enjoying a spirited drive, but I still don't feel drawn to the Prelude.

I'll admit I have this odd way of thinking where I feel if I'm going to stop using a clutch pedal, I might as well go all in with an electric car. The Prelude was originally designed as a "high-tech" performance coupe featuring the stylish digital dashboard and an optional "super handling" four-wheel-steering system. Apart from the transmission, there's not much that's truly "high-tech" about this new Prelude.

A Missed Opportunity

However, a compact electric coupe would have been a cutting-edge choice that no other car manufacturer is providing. Honda now has their own specialized EV platform withthe upcoming 0 series, it could have featured a futuristic interior and a torque-vectoring (Super Handling) system similar to the original Prelude. You might claim that the market for electric vehicle buyers is still relatively small compared to those for ICE/hybrid cars, but the electric market is steadily expanding while the demand for $40,000 front-wheel-drive coupes is nearly non-existent. The automaker could have reintroduced the Prelude with an electric platform, which would have created excitement and served as an excellent brand evolution.Although Honda is looking into sporty electric vehicles for the future,The Prelude was an opportunity that was not seized.

The truth is that a parts-bin special relying on a nostalgic nameplate makes more financial sense for Honda's accountants. The outcome is an expensive vehicle that is less efficient than an electric car, yet offers performance that matches much more affordable cars, all wrapped in a body that includes subtle references to past Preludes but is generally quite ordinary in design.

Perhaps I'm simply a cynical member of Generation X, and it's definitely possible that Honda dealers will continue to sell Preludes with price increases because there are buyers who are willing to pay a lot for this vehicle. However, my forecast is that after some initial excitement at its release, Preludes will end up gathering dust in dealership showrooms.

Tom McParland is a writer for Jalopnik and manages AutomatchConsulting.com. He simplifies the process of purchasing or renting a vehicle. Have a question about buying a car? Email Tom at Tom@AutomatchConsulting.com.

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