Honda is Getting Out of the EV Market in the US - DTNS 5312

**Jason Howell** (0:09)
This is the Daily Tech News for Friday, July 17th, 2026 We tell you what you need to know, give you the important context, and help each other understand.

**Huyen Tue Dao** (0:18)
Today, Honda is getting out of the EV business in the US for now.

**Jason Howell** (0:23)
For now, for now, getting, where are you going, Honda?

**SPEAKER_3** (0:26)
Come back.

**Jason Howell** (0:26)
I'm Jason Howell.

**Huyen Tue Dao** (0:27)
I win right now.

**Jason Howell** (0:28)
Let's start with what you need to know with a big story.
All right, Honda, which I have a personal affection for because when I grew up, my mom always had a Honda. She was a Honda Accord lady. And so I've been in plenty of, I've spent many of my life hours in a Honda. Anyways, that's part of what drew me to this story, that one factoid.
Honda is ending sales of its Prologue Electric SUV in the US at the end of the year. Effectively means that the company is exiting the US EV market for now. The Prologue first launched in just not very long ago, a couple of years ago, 2024, after being announced in 2021 The decision to remove it from the US market actually follows Honda's cancellation of three other upcoming US EVs in March. That happened in March. That was attributed to the removal of federal EV incentives here in the US by the US president. The Prologue itself was originally meant to jumpstart, get it? Honda's broader EV push built on GMs, that is General Motors Ultium battery platform that it was working with. GM walked away from Ultium in 2024 in favor of other battery formats that left Honda shifting focus back to its own EV platform and leaving Prologue kind of orphaned in the US product lineup when it came to EVs here in the US. Still the Prologue, this is what's really interesting, ranked as the sixth best selling EV in the US in 2025 So, did pretty darn well last year, behind the Tesla Model Y, behind the Model 3, but ahead of almost all the others, which is kind of crazy that this change is happening even in light of that, right? Honda is pledging that owners will continue to get full dealer support for service parts and warranty coverage, and Honda plans to keep selling compact EVs in markets where maybe things are just a little bit more hospitable to EV, like Japan and China. Have you ever had a Honda? Like, do you have any affiliation or affinity to Honda vehicles?

**Huyen Tue Dao** (2:51)
I don't mind Hondas. I'm more of a Toyota girl for nostalgia and Subaru girl in terms of my actual vehicles. But now it's really interesting. I mean, like, I know many, many people with Hondas, of course. Honda Accords being a big car for folks when I was a younger person. It's really interesting. And I am not a car person. I do love my cars, but I'm not a car person, per se, and I'm not as familiar with the market. But it really feels like at the same while just from observationally, it feels like EVs have really picked up in the US for certain makers. And of course, Tesla's Tesla being the big one, but also like, wait, who made the Prius? That was Toyota.
And Toyota obviously had a lot of success with their models. And also, I know Kia and also all the major manufacturers for the most part had their own EV models. This is kind of surprising, honestly, because Honda is a pretty popular maker here in the US. But at the same time, I guess as a Subaru owner, I know it's really weird to go to other countries, even Japan, and not see many Subarus around. Yeah, you don't see too many Subarus in Japan, obviously, strangely enough. But to kind of see them not really have a foothold in terms of their EVs, like they played around with EVs a bit or in hybrids, but they haven't had the same success as the other models. And I'm kind of wondering if that's just an effect of the American EV market. Like what is it that American EV buyers want? Is it still kind of more of a premium?
Are EVs still more kind of on the premium side for car buyers? Because obviously there's companies like Audi, and I can't think of any other offices off my head that have EV models that I'm seeing around. But yeah, not as many of the compact EVs, or is it just that maybe Honda didn't quite, as you said, didn't quite get a foothold, and now it's a little bit difficult just kind of with everything going on? I don't know.