Month: September 2023

That’s a lovely blue on the Prologue. | Image: Honda

Honda revealed that the upcoming 2024 Honda Prologue is “expected” to get an EPA-estimated 300 miles of range on a single charge while announcing a slew of new specs for its first all-electric SUV. Built on GM’s Ultium platform, it achieves this range thanks to the 85kWh battery inside, which is the same size as the Chevy Blazer EV.
The two vehicles have many similarities inside and out, from the 121.8-inch wheelbase to the 11-inch driver instrument display. However, the official EPA range for Chevy’s SUV is already known, at 279 miles on a full charge.
Both the Prologue and the Blazer have Google built-in software, but Honda’s EV includes the wireless Apple Carplay and Android Auto support that GM has decided its EVs will do without.

Honda will include several charging package options for Prologue (and Acura ZDX) buyers that include public charging credits. One package includes an 11.5kW home charging station with a $500 Honda Home Electrification installation service incentive plus $100 in public charging credit.
Honda PR representative Chris Martin tells The Verge in an email that the credits work specifically with EVgo and its roaming partners, including ChargePoint. Honda’s EVgo partnership enables customers to find chargers, see real-time stall availability, and initiate a charge, all within the new HondaLink app.
The second charging package option includes a slower (but portable) 7.6kW charger, a $250 install credit, and a $300 public charging credit. Finally, the third option eschews the Level 2 home charging offerings (in case you already have one or live in an apartment) and gives you $750 in public charging credits instead.
Regardless of your package of choice, new Honda and Acura EV owners will also get a free sampling of DC fast charging at Electrify America stations, up to 60kWh. That’s probably good for a free one-way road trip from New York City to Niagara Falls. Just remember that you won’t get to take advantage of Electrify America’s fastest 350kW charging options since the Prologue only supports up to 155kW. Honda says you can get 65 miles of range in about 10 minutes of fast charging.

Honda will deliver the first Prologue EVs in early 2024, and it will start in the “upper $40,000s.” It might even qualify for the $7,500 federal tax incentive, considering the Chevy Blazer is included in the list. Honda plans to introduce 30 new EVs globally by 2030 with a sales volume of 2 million vehicles.
Honda, like Toyota, is slow to kick-start its electrification process compared to other automakers, so it’s built the Prologue on GM’s platform as a stopgap. The Prologue is Honda’s first electric vehicle in the US since the automaker’s compliance 2015 Honda Fit EV model, while its next one, a larger SUV, will come in 2025 and run on the company’s own e Architecture platform.

That’s a lovely blue on the Prologue. | Image: Honda

Honda revealed that the upcoming 2024 Honda Prologue is “expected” to get an EPA-estimated 300 miles of range on a single charge while announcing a slew of new specs for its first all-electric SUV. Built on GM’s Ultium platform, it achieves this range thanks to the 85kWh battery inside, which is the same size as the Chevy Blazer EV.

The two vehicles have many similarities inside and out, from the 121.8-inch wheelbase to the 11-inch driver instrument display. However, the official EPA range for Chevy’s SUV is already known, at 279 miles on a full charge.

Both the Prologue and the Blazer have Google built-in software, but Honda’s EV includes the wireless Apple Carplay and Android Auto support that GM has decided its EVs will do without.

Honda will include several charging package options for Prologue (and Acura ZDX) buyers that include public charging credits. One package includes an 11.5kW home charging station with a $500 Honda Home Electrification installation service incentive plus $100 in public charging credit.

Honda PR representative Chris Martin tells The Verge in an email that the credits work specifically with EVgo and its roaming partners, including ChargePoint. Honda’s EVgo partnership enables customers to find chargers, see real-time stall availability, and initiate a charge, all within the new HondaLink app.

The second charging package option includes a slower (but portable) 7.6kW charger, a $250 install credit, and a $300 public charging credit. Finally, the third option eschews the Level 2 home charging offerings (in case you already have one or live in an apartment) and gives you $750 in public charging credits instead.

Regardless of your package of choice, new Honda and Acura EV owners will also get a free sampling of DC fast charging at Electrify America stations, up to 60kWh. That’s probably good for a free one-way road trip from New York City to Niagara Falls. Just remember that you won’t get to take advantage of Electrify America’s fastest 350kW charging options since the Prologue only supports up to 155kW. Honda says you can get 65 miles of range in about 10 minutes of fast charging.

Honda will deliver the first Prologue EVs in early 2024, and it will start in the “upper $40,000s.” It might even qualify for the $7,500 federal tax incentive, considering the Chevy Blazer is included in the list. Honda plans to introduce 30 new EVs globally by 2030 with a sales volume of 2 million vehicles.

Honda, like Toyota, is slow to kick-start its electrification process compared to other automakers, so it’s built the Prologue on GM’s platform as a stopgap. The Prologue is Honda’s first electric vehicle in the US since the automaker’s compliance 2015 Honda Fit EV model, while its next one, a larger SUV, will come in 2025 and run on the company’s own e Architecture platform.

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Illustration: The Verge

Executives from Microsoft and Apple met in 2020 to discuss a possible sale of Bing, according to a new report from Bloomberg. But the talks failed to progress beyond the exploratory phase, indicating that Apple’s top brass — including Eddy Cue, who was involved in the meetings — never seriously pursued the idea.
Testimony in the ongoing FTC antitrust suit against Google has made clear that Apple has never given much thought to replacing the leading search engine as the default on iPhones. Rather, Microsoft believes Apple has only raised the possibility to extract more money from Google to retain its spot. “It is no secret that Apple is making more money on Bing existing than Bing does,’’ Microsoft’s Mikhail Parakhin said Wednesday in US District Court.

Bloomberg’s latest report confirms that the lucrative arrangement between Apple and Google was a key reason for keeping things as they were. But Apple is said to have “had concerns about Bing’s ability to compete with Google in quality and capabilities.” That jibes with Cue’s testimony — he said “there wasn’t a valid alternative to Google at the time” of the deal’s origin and that an equal has yet to emerge in the many years since.
Apple is believed to take in upwards of $20 billion annually as part of the arrangement that secures Google’s position as the default search engine on iOS and iPadOS. Last week, the CEO of DuckDuckGo, a privacy-focused search product, claimed that it “takes too many steps” to switch the iPhone’s default. In reality, it’s fairly trivial and requires just a few taps in the settings menu — but this goes to show how rarely most consumers ever deviate from the default.
None of this is to say that Bing hasn’t had its chances: as Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman notes, Microsoft’s engine was the default for Siri and Spotlight searches for several years, starting with iOS 7. Some saw this as a prelude to a larger shift, but Apple never went all the way: Safari always kept the status quo and the Google search results that customers expected. There were meetings circa 2016 between chief executives Tim Cook and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on a potential new deal that would have led to monumental change, but it never panned out.
Apple and Google most recently extended their deal in 2021, so Microsoft’s pitch the year before was likely an attempt to throw a wrench into those renewal plans. So much for that.

Illustration: The Verge

Executives from Microsoft and Apple met in 2020 to discuss a possible sale of Bing, according to a new report from Bloomberg. But the talks failed to progress beyond the exploratory phase, indicating that Apple’s top brass — including Eddy Cue, who was involved in the meetings — never seriously pursued the idea.

Testimony in the ongoing FTC antitrust suit against Google has made clear that Apple has never given much thought to replacing the leading search engine as the default on iPhones. Rather, Microsoft believes Apple has only raised the possibility to extract more money from Google to retain its spot. “It is no secret that Apple is making more money on Bing existing than Bing does,’’ Microsoft’s Mikhail Parakhin said Wednesday in US District Court.

Bloomberg’s latest report confirms that the lucrative arrangement between Apple and Google was a key reason for keeping things as they were. But Apple is said to have “had concerns about Bing’s ability to compete with Google in quality and capabilities.” That jibes with Cue’s testimony — he said “there wasn’t a valid alternative to Google at the time” of the deal’s origin and that an equal has yet to emerge in the many years since.

Apple is believed to take in upwards of $20 billion annually as part of the arrangement that secures Google’s position as the default search engine on iOS and iPadOS. Last week, the CEO of DuckDuckGo, a privacy-focused search product, claimed that it “takes too many steps” to switch the iPhone’s default. In reality, it’s fairly trivial and requires just a few taps in the settings menu — but this goes to show how rarely most consumers ever deviate from the default.

None of this is to say that Bing hasn’t had its chances: as Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman notes, Microsoft’s engine was the default for Siri and Spotlight searches for several years, starting with iOS 7. Some saw this as a prelude to a larger shift, but Apple never went all the way: Safari always kept the status quo and the Google search results that customers expected. There were meetings circa 2016 between chief executives Tim Cook and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on a potential new deal that would have led to monumental change, but it never panned out.

Apple and Google most recently extended their deal in 2021, so Microsoft’s pitch the year before was likely an attempt to throw a wrench into those renewal plans. So much for that.

Read More