The 2026 Honda Prelude’s ‘CVT’ Won’t Be As Bad As You Think Because It’s Not Actually A CVT

There’s been a lot of hate for the forthcoming 2026 Honda Prelude, which will be fully revealed later this year. Some of it has been justified, but there’s one area that perhaps we and the rest of the internet have been overly critical of: the e-CVT transmission Honda’s giving it. I’ll admit, we at CarBuzz have been referring to the transmission in the same way Honda does, calling it an e-CVT, but, here’s the thing, it’s not actually a CVT at all.

Yes, it’s not a manual gearbox, which is what fans are begging for, but it’s not the soul-sucking rubber-banding, economy-focused transmission everyone’s been led to believe. We’ve got no clue why Honda keeps calling it a CVT, but it’s probably because it provides a similarly smooth driving experience. Here’s the skinny on what transmission the Prelude actually has, and why it’s not going to be anywhere near as bad as we imagined it would be.

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Honda’s Two-Motor Hybrid Doesn’t Have A CVT At All

You’ll have to forgive me for the quick diversion here, as I’m going to talk about the hybrid powertrain at the heart of the Prelude before focusing on the transmission. That’s because the e:HEV system that’s going to be employed in this sporty coupe doesn’t really have a transmission in the traditional sense. We’ve dedicated a fair amount of screen estate to explaining Honda’s two-motor hybrid powertrain in detail, but a quick recap of the basics is important for the sake of this story.

Honda calls it a two-motor hybrid system, but those two motors aren’t both drive motors. One acts to drive the wheels, much like you’d find on an electric vehicle (EV), while the other is positioned before the battery, receiving power from a combustion engine. In the case of the Civic Hybrid, which the Prelude will share much of its core underpinnings with, it’s a naturally aspirated 2.0-liter Atkinson cycle four-cylinder with direct fuel injection and VTEC, feeding power into a 1.06-kWh battery.

Primarily, propulsion is provided by the traction motor, which feeds through a single-speed reduction gearbox, effectively creating a direct-drive system; when the motor speed increases, the wheel speed increases linearly. But the secret to Honda’s system is that the combustion engine can physically clutch in to provide direct power to the wheels. This typically occurs when the engine is in its most efficient operating range – at high-speed driving when you’d typically be in fifth or sixth gear.

There is never a crossover where both the ICE and electric motors are driving the wheels simultaneously – at least not in previous iterations of this tech – and the closest you’ll get to two power sources is in hybrid drive mode when both the battery and combustion engine are sending power to the e-motors, typically in high-load situations where the battery cannot deploy enough energy on its own. In these situations, the engine isn’t locked into a fixed engine speed either, but sees the revs rise and fall to add another layer of interaction missing from other similar systems.

But at any and all points during this process, there is no gear ratio variability – only a direct drive system with either one or two power supplies. The variability is only provided by the output of the traction motor itself.

A Big Difference Between This And A CVT

Without going into all the detail on a CVT, the abridged explanation of how it works is a chain or belt pulled taut between two cone-shaped pulleys, one on the input and one on the output side of the transmission. These cones are adjustable and can move either forward or backward, adjusting the gear ratio infinitely and without needing to switch between fixed cogs. In theory, the CVT is genius, but in practical applications, it almost always fails to deliver, resulting in a rubber-band sensation that never feels quick or engaging and always seems to result in more of that slipping-clutch feel than it should. It’s no wonder the CVT has been seen as the enemy of fun, and it’s for this reason the notion of a CVT Prelude caused such an uproar.

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But Honda’s e:HEV system doesn’t have a CVT, there are no cone-shaped pulleys, and there’s no chain or belt-driven transmission with variable ratios. The transmission here is closer to that of an EV than it is to any traditional combustion or hybrid vehicle.

Honda’s Hybrid System Isn’t Like Traditional Hybrids Either

Excluding whether a hybrid is plugged in or not, and further downstream from the battery, there are three primary types of hybrid powertrain:

• Parallel hybrid
• Series-parallel hybrid
• Series hybrid

There are various permutations and designs that may blend the functionality of these different systems, but in their typical forms, this is how they behave.

Parallel Hybrid – The One Everyone Knows

The traditional hybrid powertrain we’ve become accustomed to is what is technically referred to as a parallel hybrid system, named because its two power sources operate independently alongside one another. That’s the one you know from the Toyota Prius, for example, where the engine drives the wheels directly for most of your journey, with a parallel electric motor feeding additional torque into the system from a battery pack when needed. This can be on sudden acceleration, or when trundling around the city when a gas engine is at its most inefficient, and the engine itself can be decoupled from the powertrain for brief periods.

Parallel hybrids typically rely on brake regeneration to recuperate battery power. This system is typically paired with a CVT transmission, maximizing potential efficiency by keeping the ICE in a more efficient operating range.

Series-Parallel Hybrid – Think Plug-In Hybrids

Series-parallel hybrid systems are a little more complex and are commonly found in plug-in hybrid (PHEV) cars. Like parallel hybrids, the ICE and e-motors can operate independently of one another, with one or the other switching off, or both operating simultaneously; that covers the parallel aspect. The ‘series’ aspect of its name comes from a power splitter that lets the gasoline engine feed into the electrical system, recharging the battery without relying on regenerative braking alone. This is what enables the ‘battery hold’ mode in most PHEVs – although some, like the BMW XM, are devoid of this function – and functions by placing extra load on the engine to let it drive the wheels and charge the battery simultaneously. In the moment, it’s less efficient than the ICE driving the wheels only, but it enables a higher battery SOC for when you need it most – around town.

This system typically sees a broader speed range reliant on the combustion engine, and importantly, this relies on a traditional transmission, sometimes in the form of a torque converter automatic, sometimes a DCT, and sometimes a CVT.

Series Hybrid – Sort Of A Hybrid, Sort Of Not

The third hybrid system is a contentious one, as not all manufacturers call it a hybrid. Series hybrid systems have both a combustion engine and an electric motor and battery, but in a true series hybrid setup, the combustion engine has no physical connection with the wheels; it acts solely as a generator for the e-drive system, allowing the engine to operate under fixed load in its most efficient operating range. Technically, this results in the most efficient generation of power, but has limitations in that total power output is reliant on the electric motors, and the combustion engine may not be able to recharge the battery system as rapidly as it is being discharged in high-performance settings.

The first-generation Chevrolet Volt famously pioneered this system and was marketed as a hybrid, but the BMW i3 REx and new Ram 1500 Ramcharger were marketed as ‘range extender electric vehicles’ by their respective manufacturers. No transmission is necessary here, as series hybrids rely on the electric motors for propulsion, typically using single-gear reduction gearboxes.

Can A Hybrid Honda Prelude Without A Manual Gearbox Satisfy Enthusiasts?

With Honda’s mislabeling of the transmission in the e:HEV system as a CVT, it’s not hard to see why enthusiasts have been bitterly disappointed by the Prelude. It hasn’t even hit the market yet, and already it’s being written off. We can chalk that up to poor marketing and misrepresentation on Honda’s part, as well as that of the automotive media. We’ll even accept our part of the blame, for which we’re now trying to set the record straight. But the question remains, can this hybrid Prelude really satisfy enthusiasts?

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It’s not rear-wheel drive, nor will it ever be, so we’re not expecting it to be a true GR86 and Miata rival; it’s more of a sporty coupe than an outright sports car. But there are a lot of unknowns. For starters, we only know how much power this powertrain has produced in family-friendly applications like the CR-V Hybrid and Civic Hybrid – up to 204 horsepower, for the record. For a car like the Prelude, Honda could dial up the wick a little, tuning the combustion engine less for efficiency and more for rapid deployment of power through the electric motor. The current setup also only directly routes engine power to the wheels in a small window when it can operate in direct-drive fashion, but for a performance setup, Honda may broaden that window to have more engine power and corresponding revs and engagement.

The S+ shift mode will deliver the strongest boost to performance and engagement with simulated shifts, but the crucial detail is that even in its normal driving modes, the Prelude will have the throttle response of an EV, not a CVT. If enthusiasts can wrap their heads around that, maybe they’ll be more receptive to the rest of the package, which will have Civic Type R-derived suspension components. Honda has already shown us the Prelude will be capable of some extreme maneuvers on a racetrack, but time will tell whether it’s the sporty coupe enthusiasts have been lusting after, or whether it repeats the mistakes of the last sporty hybrid coupe from the brand, the Honda CR-Z.