Honda Comes From Nowhere & Scores Massive EV Gross sales In USA

Join day by day information updates from CleanTechnica on electronic mail. Or observe us on Google Information!

---

I’ve coated the US EV gross sales outcomes of a number of auto corporations this month as third quarter gross sales knowledge have come out. A number of corporations have seen hovering EV gross sales development, whereas others have seen huge drops in EV gross sales. And, even inside corporations, some fashions are up lots whereas others are down lots. Nevertheless, there was one firm that stunned me a bit however I didn’t know what to make of it, so I held off a bit earlier than writing about it. That firm, after all, is Honda.

Ford EV gross sales grew 12% within the third quarter (Q3), particularly backed by Ford F-150 Lightning gross sales rising 105%, to 7,162 gross sales. The Ford Mustang Mach-E noticed a slight decline in gross sales, however it was nonetheless the very best promoting non-Tesla EV within the nation, with 13,392 gross sales within the third quarter. However right here’s the wild information: the Honda Prologue got here out of nowhere to nearly take that title from the Mustang Mach-E. The Honda Prologue scored 12,644 gross sales within the third quarter.

A part of what surprises me is that the Prologue is kind of contemporary in the marketplace. Simply 19 models have been delivered within the first quarter, then 1,516 have been delivered within the second quarter, after which — increase — 12,644 deliveries! That’s a quick leap from nowhere by way of meh to wow!

One other factor that surprises me about it’s that Honda has been seen as an enormous EV laggard for a number of years. It averted creating an electrical automobile for a decade. It sullied its identify amongst many EV followers and followers. Nonetheless, apparently, its for much longer fame as a frontrunner in gasoline effectivity and hybrids made it a straightforward promote to get prospects into its first critical full electrical car. And I do know there are additionally these sorts of patrons who particularly waited for his or her favourite model (and Honda is that for many individuals) to get into the EV sport. Perhaps what this end result exhibits is simply how sturdy the Honda model continues to be with much less gas-guzzling-minded patrons. (That stated, given the dimensions of Honda, we must always hope for continued quick development of EV gross sales and a a lot greater share of its gross sales coming from EVs.)

However there’s another reason this excessive gross sales end result surprises me a bit. Our personal Kyle Subject drove and reviewed the Honda Prologue earlier this 12 months. In March, Kyle wrote, “The Prologue EV is constructed on prime of GM’s Ultium platform and makes use of a ton of GM’s battery and powertrain elements, to the purpose that it looks like a GM car with a Honda shell on prime. Honda opted to to companion with GM on the Prologue EV to speed up the time to marketplace for its first production-scale electrical car. This additionally provides Honda the flexibility to be taught from Common Motors’ expertise to see what elements of the electrical car expertise resonate with Honda as a model and Honda’s prospects on the identical time.” In different phrases, actually, the Prologue isn’t a Honda at its core and is nothing particular. It’s possible you’ll as properly purchase a Chevy Equinox — however it seems about 3,000 extra individuals purchased a Honda Prologue than a Chevy Equinox!

There are a pair extra issues as properly. For one, maybe Honda simply had sufficient demand constructed up for an EV that it had an extended checklist of people that jumped on the Prologue as soon as it was obtainable to them and gross sales will fall off sooner or later. (I don’t actually assume that’s the case, and hope it’s not, however it’s one chance.) One other factor is that I’ve heard Honda’s pushing some nice offers on the Prologue, and I’ve seen many advertisements for it myself. Maybe Honda is genuinely making an attempt exhausting to get gross sales of the Prologue flowing and needs to rapidly turn into an EV chief within the nation.

Maybe Honda simply is aware of the best way to bundle a automobile at a aggressive value and promote it to prospects. Perhaps Honda’s simply higher at promoting vehicles, and that features the considerably mediocre Prologue. I assume I haven’t actually hidden my opinion on the Prologue, however I’ll be sincere, it’s simply not one of many prime EVs I’d suggest to somebody seeking to get into an electrical automobile for the primary time. There are a number of others I’d suggest forward of it. However perhaps I ought to put the Prologue greater up the checklist. After already turning into the fifth greatest promoting electrical automobile within the nation, there’s a stable probability it rises to 4th and even third within the subsequent quarter. We’ll see. Both approach, although, it’s prone to stay within the prime 10. We’ll see the place it goes from right here.