Category: Highlight

  • 2024 Honda Prologue is new electric crossover based on GM’s Ultium platform

    Honda on Monday announced that an electric crossover it is developing on a platform sourced from General Motors will be called the Prologue, and will start sales in the United States as a 2024 model.

    In a statement, Honda said the name was chosen to reflect that the new crossover will only be the first of several electric vehicles headed to U.S. showrooms in the coming years. Honda has a target of reaching 40% EV sales in North America by 2030 and 100% by 2040.

    While Honda is developing its own dedicated EV platform known as the e:Architecture, for models launching from the second half of the decade, the automaker will initially rely on GM’s Ultium electric-vehicle platform and battery technology for the Prologue, as well as an Acura crossover also due for the 2024 model year.

    The Ultium platform supports a variety of vehicle types ranging from small cars to large pickup trucks, crossovers and SUVs, as well as outputs of more than 1,000 hp. The Ultium batteries come in sizes ranging from 50-200 kilowatt-hours, the latter good for over 400 miles of range.

    2024 Honda Prologue

    2024 Honda Prologue

    The first Ultium-based vehicle is the 2022 GMC Hummer EV pickup truck, which starts production this fall.

    GM will also be responsible for production of the Ultium-based electric crossovers for Honda and Acura, while the Japanese automakers will handle design and tuning. The Acura, which is expected to be the bigger of the two crossovers, is expected to be built at GM’s Spring Hill Manufacturing plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee, where GM will start production of the Ultium-based 2023 Cadillac Lyriq electric crossover in early 2022. The Honda is tipped to enter production at GM’s plant in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico, where the Chevrolet Blazer and Equinox are built.

    Since their original agreement, Honda and GM have further strengthened ties in North America. The two last year also proposed an alliance in the area of platform and powertrain sharing, as well as in R&D, purchasing, and connected services. The two automakers have also collaborated in the area of fuel cells since 2013.

    Honda is also a key investor in Cruise, the self-driving startup controlled by GM, and has been picked to oversee operation of Cruise’s first self-driving service in Japan. Timing for the service’s launch is unclear at present.

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  • Jay Leno drives a 1957 Chevrolet Step Van with a unique story

    When choosing cars for his “Jay Leno’s Garage” YouTube show, Jay Leno sometimes pulls from his own collection, or gets pitched by owners and manufacturers. Sometimes, though, he stops owners on the street, which is how this 1957 Chevrolet Step Van got on the show.

    The van was built by Diosely Pino, who emigrated from Cuba about five years ago, taking a Greyhound bus cross country to reach Los Angeles, where he now resides. It now serves as a work vehicle for his restoration shop. Pino gained experience working on old cars in Cuba, where 1950s American cars never died, and turned that into a business.

    Before it could be put to work, the Chevy van required some restoration work of its own. Rusted bodywork was repaired and repainted with the current fake police livery in between customer jobs, Pino explained. He also added a police light and siren, and the front emblem from a 1959 Chevy Apache pickup truck. Crystal doorknobs serve as a budget replacement for the original (missing) sliding-door handles.

    The Cuban Style 1957 Chevrolet Step Van on Jay Leno's Garage

    The Cuban Style 1957 Chevrolet Step Van on Jay Leno’s Garage

    He kept the stock inline-6 engine and 4-speed manual transmission, adding shelves and drawers in the back to keep tools and parts (and the odd firearm) organized.

    While he did put his Instagram handle (@The_Cuban_Style_88) on the side, Pino said he doesn’t want the van to serve as a rolling billboard for his shop. He’s currently a one-man operation, and already has lots of work, he explained.

    Watch the video to hear the rest of Pino’s story, and to see his van cruising around the streets of L.A.

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  • Why MPG is a dumb unit for fuel economy

    Miles per gallon—mpg—is the default measure of gas mileage in the United States, but it may not be the best one, argues “Engineering Explained” host Jason Fenske. Here’s why he’d rather see a different unit of measurement for fuel economy.

    Fenske doesn’t have a problem with the individual units—the mile and the gallon—but says something “weird” happens when you put them together. He explains that with a question: Is it better to double the fuel economy of nine cars from 50 mpg to 100 mpg, or double the fuel economy of just one car from 5 mpg to 10 mpg?

    When just looking at efficiency, increasing the fuel economy of the nine 50-mpg cars is the best way to go. But once you factor in distance driven, it’s the other way around.

    Gas pump

    Gas pump

    That’s because mpg is a measure of distance (miles) per volume (gallon). Fenske notes at this point that most other countries flip this around, measuring fuel economy in volume per distance. In Europe, for example, the default unit is liters per 100 kilometers. Measuring fuel economy in gallons per mile would be more straightforward, he says.

    U.S. Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) targets are already calculated in a manner that’s closer to gallons per 100 miles, Fenske notes. They’re then converted back into mpg to make the numbers easier for the general public to understand, a process called a “harmonic mean.” Window stickers even show fuel economy in gallons per 100 miles in smaller print under the mpg figure.

    Increasing the mpg of two cars by the same amount also doesn’t mean they save the same amount of fuel. A gain of 1 mpg will equate to more fuel savings in a car that started out getting 5 mpg than a car that started out getting 50 mpg. Watch the full video to see the math supporting this, and if you want more efficiency, check out this video explaining how big tire sidewalls are your friend.

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