Honda certainly isn’t a leader in the electrification of the automotive industry. As other manufacturers are rapidly expanding their lineups of all-electric models, Honda has, well, doesn’t have one at all.

That has undoubtedly caused buyers to land on other dealers’ lots. Still, Honda’s continued push for hybrid electric vehicles looks to be paying off, and it could signal a positive future for the brand’s upcoming first EV.

Honda electrified model sales are surging

Currently Honda only offers two 2023 hybrid models, the Accord Hybrid and CR-V Hybrid, but they are selling better than ever. Honda set a monthly sales record for electrified vehicles in March 2023 with its two hybrid models, according to a recent press release.

Honda announced the CR-V Hybrid enjoyed its best quarterly sales and best monthly sales in the model’s history in March. Perhaps more notable is overall CR-V sales surpassed 31,000 units in March—the model’s best sales month in two years—and over half of those, 18,000, were hybrids.

The Accord Hybrid has been around a lot longer—since 2005, in fact. And in all the months that have passed since a Bush was in the White House, none have been better for Accord Hybrid sales than this March.

The electrified sedan found its way onto 7,970 driveways, a monthly record. Total sales for the Accord were 16,560 for March, giving the hybrid a 48% share of all Accord purchases.

Honda did note in its March sales announcement the brand’s inventory is beginning to keep pace with demand, undoubtedly helping overall sales. And perhaps just as important, the CR-V Hybrid and Accord Hybrid figures could point to a positive electrified future as Honda is on the cusp of offering its first fully-electric model.

Strong Honda electric sales could point to a bright future for the Prologue

The upcoming Prologue EV, as its name suggests, will introduce the fully electric era of Honda when it goes on sale for the 2024 model year. The company’s recent sales figures certainly forecast its buyers’ willingness to go electrified, which could point to a bright outlook for five-passenger, fully electric SUV.

Simultaneously, Honda finally offering an all-electric model could lead more potential customers back to its dealerships, including those who want to make the switch to EVs or those who already have but didn’t have a Honda model to consider.  

Honda hasn’t revealed the full specs of its first EV, but the Prologue and upcoming Chevrolet Blazer EV are being built on GM’s Ultium platform, so the two new EVs are likely to be closely aligned in size, performance, range and charge times.

What we do know is the Prologue will ride on a 121.8-inch wheelbase with an overall length and height that is slightly larger than the Ford Mustang Mach-E. The Blazer EV will be offered later this year in three trims (a new base trim arrives in late 2024).

A single electric motor will drive the front wheels with an estimated range of 293 miles on a single charge in the 2LT base version available this summer. A rear-wheel or all-wheel drive trim will also be offered with an estimated range of up to 320 miles alongside a performance “SS” version delivering a notable 557 horsepower—just slightly less power than what’s offered in the 2023 Kia EV6 GT—and an estimated range of 290 miles.

It remains to be seen which of these drivetrains will be available in the Prologue or its full suite of features, but Honda’s electrified sales continuing to rise could be a positive harbinger of things to come for the brand’s debut EV.