Honda final 12 months introduced plans to launch a pair of sports activities fashions powered by batteries, and one in all them has been confirmed as a sporty coupe that may doubtless go into manufacturing as a contemporary Prelude.

The affirmation got here on Wednesday with the reveal of the Prelude idea on the 2023 Tokyo auto present, an idea that Honda mentioned it was presently creating for manufacturing. Honda additionally made strikes to renew the Prelude trademark earlier this 12 months.

Regardless of being an idea, the Prelude on show in Tokyo seems to be prepared for manufacturing. And whereas it could be an EV, there’s nothing to differentiate it from fashions powered by a fuel engine, besides maybe an absence of exhaust ideas.

Launched in Japan in 1978, the Prelude has historically been a sporty front-wheel-drive coupe that draped sleeker bodywork over dependable mechanical elements shared with extra mainstream fashions. Manufacturing ended after the 2002 mannequin 12 months, bringing to a conclusion a formidable run that spanned 5 generations.

Equally, any trendy Prelude powered by batteries will doubtless share its underpinnings with different Honda EVs within the works. These underpinnings doubtless will not be the Ultium platform and battery expertise set Honda borrowed from Basic Motors for the 2024 Prologue and 2024 Acura ZDX crossovers.

Honda is understood to be engaged on its personal EV platform for medium and large-size fashions, the primary of which is due in 2025 and more likely to be a crossover. Honda was additionally engaged on a line of inexpensive EVs based mostly on an extra platform being co-developed with GM as a part of an prolonged collaboration between the 2 automakers, however that plan has since been scuttled. The primary mannequin on this collectively developed platform was due in 2027.

Honda plans to have not less than 30 EVs accessible globally by 2030. Certainly one of these would be the second sports activities mannequin introduced final 12 months, regarded as a new NSX supercar.