Honda has dropped an unexpected bombshell at the Japan Mobility Show (JMS) over in Tokyo, whipping the covers off what looks to be a near-production-ready affordable electric coupe called the Prelude concept.
As part of the event in the Japanese capital that was previously known as the Tokyo Motor Show, manufacturers look to the future of mobility - which doesn't just include cars, but last-mile solutions, service programmes and more, all centred on a clean, sustainable energy usage.
Toshihiro Mibe, Honda's president, was giving a press conference at the JMS in which he went over many of the car company's varied transport solutions in an electric age. Yet right at the end, the covers were pulled off the car he was standing next to - the Prelude concept.'We are diligently progressing with development'
At this stage, we have no details to go on, other than Mibe-san's very encouraging words as the car was unveiled: "We know our customers are expecting one more thing from Honda, and that is sports models. At the automobile electrification business briefing we held last year, I talked about future sports models. [Today] I would like to show you one of them, the speciality sports model: this is the Prelude concept.
"Honda has always been committed to creating sporty vehicles. And the word 'prelude' means an 'introductory or preceding performance'. This model will become the prelude for our future models, which will inherit the 'joy of driving' into the full-fledged electrified future and embody Honda's unalterable sports mindset.
"The Prelude concept is a speciality sports model that will offer an exhilarating experience that makes you want to keep going forever, and extraordinary excitement you never felt before. In order to offer the 'joy of driving' only Honda can realise, we are diligently progressing with development, so please keep your expectations high for this model."
Hybrid or full EV?
It's clear to see that, along with Mibe-san's speech, the show car looks close to making production. A familial appearance that ties it in with the current Honda Civic is obvious at the front, while the relative normalcy of its details - such as the wheels, the brakes, the door handles and the exterior mirrors - suggests this is not far off being greenlit to go on sale.
Whether it will actually be called Prelude if, and when, it makes it to market remains to be seen. Mibe-san said it would be the 'prelude' (lower case) to other future models, so it could be that the company is not willing to commit to reviving the Prelude name for a showroom version.
The original Prelude line ran from 1978 to 2001, across five generations of car, and it was always a sporty, affordable coupe, offered with powerful VTEC engines towards the end of its life. If it came back in the next few years, it's not immediately apparent whether it would be as one of Honda's e:HEV hybrids, or as a full electric vehicle.
A self-driving microbus and a car made out of recycled acrylic
Alongside the Prelude, Honda showed some more outlandish creations for further into the company's future. One was the Cruise Origin, developed with GM and Cruise. This is an autonomous six-seat passenger vehicle that allows for its occupants to use their time onboard however they like. Honda plans to launch it as a driverless ride-hail system, using the Origin for the fleet, in its native territory sometime in 2026.
The Sustaina-C concept, meanwhile, is a small electric city car that boosts its environmental credentials by using recycled acrylic resin for much of its construction, while the CI-MEV is Honda's vision of a self-driving mobility chariot for a few years down the line.