Honda Prelude Concept is actually a hybrid, not an EV

Remember the Honda Prelude Concept that made its debut at this year’s Japan Mobility Show? As it turns out, the show car is actually a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) and not a pure battery electric vehicle (BEV) as reported previously.

Confirmation of this comes directly from Andrew Quillin, who is the senior manager of public relations at the American Honda Motor Company. In a series of replies on X (formerly Twitter), Quillin said, “to clarify … Prelude Concept is hybrid-electric, not full BEV.”

He added that the press release did not clearly specify what sort of the powertrain the concept used, with the text in the release being the speech given by Toshihiro Mibe, president and CEO of Honda. “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,” said Mibe.

Many automotive sites, including us, assumed it to be fully electric given Honda’s electrification plans. The lack of an exhaust on the vehicle – typical of concepts – also led many to believe this to be the case.

With all of that cleared up, how do you feel about the Prelude Concept being a hybrid rather than an EV? Does it change how you feel about it? The NSX came back as hybrid, so it’ll be interesting to see what Honda comes up with if and when the Prelude Concept transforms into a series production model.