Thinking About Getting an EV Before the Tax Credit Ends?
Editor’s note: This story was updated Sept. 4, 2025, to reflect news regarding the timeline of the electric vehicle tax credit program.
Tax credits for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles are not long for this world, so if you want to save additional money on your next EV, you’ll have to act quickly. On July 4, President Trump signed a $3.4 trillion budget bill into law that discontinues EV tax credits Sept. 30.
However, the IRS recently updated the timeline, giving some buyers a bit more time. According to the IRS, if a buyer orders a new or used vehicle and puts money down on it before Sept. 30 but takes delivery after that date, they can still claim the tax credit at that later date.
2024 Kia EV9 GT charging | Cars.com photo by Conner Golden
The finalized law discontinues the $7,500 tax credit for new EVs and $4,000 credit for used EVs earlier than initially planned, as earlier iterations of Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” budget called for the credits to end Dec. 31.
While there may be less time to shop if you want to claim the EV credit, one proposed recurring charge for electrified vehicle owners will not be going into effect: The finalized budget ditched an earlier proposal that would have charged an annual registration fee for hybrid vehicle owners ($100) and EV owners ($250), which government officials claimed could help offset that these owners pay less in gasoline taxes that go to fund roads and bridges.
If you’re thinking about getting an EV soon, start your research here:
Understanding EVs
By now, most people realize that EVs are very different from their gas-powered counterparts in terms of how they get power, how they drive, how to “fill them up” and even how much you should expect to pay for one. Many shoppers aren’t sure where to start when looking at an EV, and there’s a lot to consider. Check out the guides below to learn the basics.
- What to Know Before Purchasing an Electric Vehicle: A Buying Guide
- EV 101: A Video Guide to Electric Vehicles
- Electric Vehicles: Understanding the Terminology
Buying an EV
Once you understand how an EV works and how one might fit into your life, it’s time to decide which one is right for you. Check out these articles for help narrowing down your options.
- Should I Buy an Electric Car or Plug-In Hybrid?
- What Does the EV Tax Credit Overhaul Mean for Car Shoppers?
- Which Electric Cars Are Still Eligible for the $7,500 Federal Tax Credit?
- What to Know Before Buying a Used Electric Car
- Here Are the Best Finance Deals Before the EV Tax Credit Goes Away
- Here Are the Best Lease Deals Before the EV Tax Credit Goes Away
EV Shopping Tips
What if you’re interested in purchasing an EV after Sept. 30th? There will still be some other ways to add up the savings, including state and local incentives, free charging incentives, cash discounts, financing deals and opting for an EV with less range. Potential tariffs should also be taken into account when shopping for an EV, as well. Check out the following articles for shopping tips and information about how tariffs could affect your EV purchase.
- How Can You Save on Your EV Purchase?
- Which Tariffs Could Affect Your Next Car?
- How Are Automakers Responding to Trump’s Tariffs?
- Mercedes-Benz to Pause Deliveries of EQE, EQS EVs in U.S.
Living With an EV
The big differences between electric and gas-powered vehicles are likely obvious: plug versus no plug, no fuel required versus fuel required … and so on. Some other differences may not be as obvious. Read on to learn more about what the ownership experience is like for an EV.
- How Long Do Electric Car Batteries Last?
- Home EV Chargers and How to Choose One
- When Will All Fast-Charging Stations Be Open to All EVs?
- Cold Weather and EVs: What You Should Know
- We Bought a 2024 Kia EV9
- How Well Does the Kia EV9 Handle Family Duty?
- Testing the 2024 Kia EV9’s Range While Towing
- Reliability of Public EV Charging Infrastructure Improving, J.D. Power Finds
Cars.com’s EV Picks
Which EVs do Cars.com editors recommend? We have thoughts! Check out the articles below for details on which EVs stand out in terms of range, charging capabilities, value and overall livability.
- Best Electric Vehicle of 2025
- Top 10 Most Efficient Electric Cars
- Electric Cars With the Longest Range
- Here Are the 11 Cheapest Electric Vehicles You Can Buy
- Top EV Picks by Category
Related Video:https://players.brightcove.net/1578086878/HyOJ1bP6_default/index.html?videoId=6355178026112
More From Cars.com:
- Here Are the New Electric Vehicles Planned by 2026
- Electric Cars for Sale
- Shop for EVs and PHEVs
- More Electric Car News and Reviews
- Find Your Next Car
Cars.com’s Editorial department is your source for automotive news and reviews. In line with Cars.com’s long-standing ethics policy, editors and reviewers don’t accept gifts or free trips from automakers. The Editorial department is independent of Cars.com’s advertising, sales and sponsored content departments.
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Jennifer Geiger
2026 Honda Prelude Up Close: Putting the Green in Grand Touring
By Conner Golden
September 4, 2025
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2026 Honda Prelude, group front angle | Cars.com photo by Conner Golden
Key Points:
- The Honda Prelude is back for the 2026 model year as a hybrid coupe, sharing the Civic hybrid’s 200-horsepower powertrain. It also features a simulated S+ Shift system instead of a transmission, as well as chassis hardware from the Civic Type R.
- The new Prelude offers the comfort, practicality and sportiness you would expect from a grand tourer with niceties such as an eight-speaker Bose sound system and heated leather sport seats.
- When the 2026 Prelude goes on sale in the fall, its starting price for its only trim level is expected to be in the high $30,000s to mid-$40,000s.
For a sizable group of enthusiasts, this is the big one. The Honda Prelude returns to production for the 2026 model year, closing the loop on a whopping 25-year absence since the fifth generation settled into the big junkyard in the sky after the 2001 model year. A whole heck of a lot has changed in that quarter-century, including technology, automotive design, purchasing habits, consumer priorities and brand identity, so it’s no surprise that the new Prelude has changed with the times.
Related: All-New 200-HP Hybrid Honda Prelude to Arrive Fall 2026
Or has it? Looking over the five generations of Prelude, five key identifiers are shared under that badge: It must be a sporty, four-seat four-cylinder coupe with an available manual transmission. The sixth gen’s got four of those five handled all nice ’n’ tidy, but that fifth one’s a doozy considering it doesn’t really have a transmission at all.
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Grand Tourer Interior
- Key takeaway: The 2026 Prelude features good comfort, practicality and nice materials inside while differentiating itself from the rest of the Honda lineup with unique front and rear styling, a double-bubble roof and flared fenders.
Somewhere around the end of the third generation in 1991, the Prelude became more sporting grand tourer than canyon slingshot — heavy on the tech, heavy on the options. It’s the same story here, with the new car offered in one spec only and packed with all of the creature features you’d expect on a Touring trim from Honda. There’s a choice of exterior and interior colors and a few dealer-installed aesthetic kits, but all Preludes will arrive with heated leather sport seats, 19-inch black wheels, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, 10.2-inch digital instrument panel, 9-inch center infotainment display, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, wireless device charging and eight-speaker Bose sound system.
In person, the 2026 Prelude feels reasonably primo. I dig the materials and houndstooth pattern on the seats, as well as the general seat comfort and flat-bottom steering wheel. Stylistically, it’s not quite a transplanted space from the Civic or Accord, presenting as a distinct branch in the family tree. The Prelude is a smart and mature space with a healthy dollop of sport — just like you’d expect on a grand tourer.
It’s also a rather sharp-looking profile, pushing the envelope of Honda’s design language in the same vein of older Preludes. Even in a more staid white, it’s a striking shape I reckon will attract more attention than the four-door Civic Type R, especially with a double-bubble roof and flared fenders. I also think the unique front and rear treatments are a smart way to differentiate the premium Prelude from the rest of the lineup, a face we can potentially expect on future Honda products.
2026 Honda Prelude, rear angle | Cars.com photo by Conner Golden
It’s pretty practical, too, at least for a coupe. Honda says its 2+2 seating configuration offers 32 inches of rear-seat legroom, but that backseat will most often be used as a sizable parcel shelf — not that you’ll need to, with the (reasonably) capacious cargo space under the rear liftback that can be expanded with the second row’s 60/40-split, folding function. Both sample models on hand were packed with various cargo detritus, including golf bags and carry-on rollerbags.
Leather, luggage and a Bose thumper means you’ll want to drive far, but the Prelude’s use of Civic Type R chassis hardware means you’ll also want to drive fast. Honda says the Type R’s adaptive dampers, “dual-axis strut” front suspension, widened track and standard four-piston Brembo brakes mean you’ll easily hit the limit of its 200 hp far before the chassis lets go. The automaker says the suspension components are retuned and moderately softened for the Prelude, but I expect its raw dynamics to be significantly above that of a Civic Si, especially if it channels some of the Type R’s exceptional steering.
Read More Honda Hybrid News Coverage:
- Prelude to the Prelude: Honda Previews Upcoming Hybrid Coupe’s Proven Suspension
- Honda Bringing Prelude Back to U.S. as Hybrid
- What Real-World MPG Does the 2025 Honda Civic Hybrid Get?
- What Are the Most Fuel-Efficient Cars?
- 2025 Honda CR-V Hybrid Review: Popular for Good Reason
- Is the 2025 Honda Civic Hybrid a Good Car? 5 Pros, 3 Cons
2026 Honda Prelude, front row | Cars.com photo by Conner Golden
Shifting Without a Transmission
- Key takeaway: The new Prelude pulls parts from various Civic parts bins, including the Civic hybrid’s powertrain and Type R’s suspension, and utilizes a new S+ Shift system. But even though it’s expected to be a bit quicker than the Civic hybrid with potentially better fuel economy, the 2026 Prelude may not be as engaging to drive as the current Type R.
Pop the hood and you’ll find a copy-paste iteration of the existing Civic hybrid’s powertrain right down to the naturally aspirated 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine and twin electric motors. The Civic’s combined 200 hp and 232 pounds-feet of torque carry over, too, as does much of the platform under the sleek coupe wrapper. There’s no third pedal, but come on — the Civic Type R is right there! I can promise you with absolute authority, even without having driven the new Prelude, that the current Type R is and would be far, far more engaging to drive than the sixth-gen Prelude with a hypothetical manual transmission.
So far, the Prelude might come across as a well-engineered parts-bin special, but its killer tech is the debut of Honda’s S+ Shift system. Since the 2.0-liter four-cylinder acts more as a generator for the electric motors than it does as a direct power unit, the S+ Shift system simulates, uh, shifts as you’d experience in a performance-minded automatic transmission — which, reminder, the Prelude doesn’t have. I didn’t get to experience any of the S+ Shift’s tricks during the studio preview, but Honda says to expect “quick simulated gearshift responses through seamless coordination between the engine and high-power motor, including downshift blips, rev matching and gear holding.”
1 / 262026 Honda Prelude, rear angle | Cars.com photo by Conner Golden
Performance? Only Honda knows at this point, but I expect it to be a skosh zippier down an on-ramp than the standard Civic hybrid. Ditto on the expected fuel economy, though its slicker profile and potentially lighter weight means it might improve upon the 2025 Civic hybrid sedan’s impressive EPA-rated 50/47/49 mpg city/highway/combined.
The same goes for the Prelude’s price, though Honda freely admits this will be a “low-volume product,” presumably reflecting its internal expectation of consumer demand versus production capacity. My guess? Based on fit, finish, Type R hardware and single-spec primo packaging, look for a base price in the high $30,000 range or even approaching the Type R in the mid-$40,000 space. Regardless, I’m just happy to have the Prelude badge back — even if we left the manual transmission on the factory shelf.
Cars.com’s Editorial department is your source for automotive news and reviews. In line with Cars.com’s long-standing ethics policy, editors and reviewers don’t accept gifts or free trips from automakers. The Editorial department is independent of Cars.com’s advertising, sales and sponsored content departments.
All-New 200-HP Hybrid Honda Prelude to Arrive Fall 2026
By Jared Gall
September 4, 2025
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2026 Honda Prelude | Manufacturer image
- Competes with: Mazda MX-5 Miata, Subaru BRZ, Toyota GR86
- Looks like: A bona fide sports coupe for the hybrid age
- Powertrain: 200-horsepower 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine paired to two electric motors; front-wheel drive
- Release date: Late fall 2025
Coupes have been steadily disappearing from showrooms for years now, with the coupe version of Honda’s own Accord having been absent since 2018. But now Honda is bucking that trend and hoping to reignite interest in affordable two-door performance cars with the 2026 Prelude.
Related: Prelude to the Prelude: Honda Previews Upcoming Hybrid Coupe’s Proven Suspension
Like a Civic Hybrid Type R With Two Doors
- Key takeaway: The new Prelude uses the Civic hybrid’s 200-hp two-motor powertrain and borrows some of the Civic Type R’s performance parts, including its dual-axis front suspension, wide stance, adaptive dampers and brakes. The Prelude will also debut Honda’s S+ Shift system, which allows drivers to manually shift gears.
Prelude is a hallowed name in Honda history, but the upcoming coupe has all the hallmarks of a genuine enthusiast effort rather than a cynical marketing exercise. The upcoming resurrection appears to be based on the Civic, which we say not so much because of the nearly identical upper dash panels, but because the Prelude boasts some serious performance gear from Honda’s current performance leader, the Civic Type R.
The Type R’s trick front suspension consists of dual-axis struts that minimize torque steer, a twitchiness that is common when routing 310 pounds-feet through the wheels that are also in charge of steering. The Civic Type R also donates its wide stance, adaptive shock absorbers and brakes to the Prelude, the latter of which features 13.8-inch rotors clamped by four-piston Brembo calipers and 12-inch rear discs. On the Prelude, the brakes and a couple of small trim pieces on the front and rear bumpers are painted the coupe’s signature shade of blue.
1 / 182026 Honda Prelude | Manufacturer image
Rather than the all-out performance of the 315-horsepower Type R, the Prelude is aimed at more balanced, environmentally conscious thrills. It’s powered by the same two-motor hybrid powertrain that’s found in the Civic hybrid, in which the electric motors assist a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine and help generate a combined 200 hp and 232 pounds-feet of torque. That’s the same power and 40 pounds-feet more torque than the Civic Si makes, which is promising. Honda isn’t talking fuel-economy figures yet, but this setup returns up to an EPA-rated 50/47/49 mpg city/highway/combined in the Civic hybrid sedan.
While the Civic Si is only available with a six-speed manual transmission, the Prelude (like the Civic hybrid) doesn’t really get a transmission; instead, it features direct drive from its electric motor, a setup found in electric vehicles. But unlike its four-door hybrid donor, the Prelude boasts Honda’s new S+ Shift system, which features aluminum paddle shifters that shuffle through preset gear ratios to mimic a manually controlled automatic transmission — complete with rev-matched downshifts. Four drive modes (Comfort, GT, Sport and Individual) vary powertrain, steering and suspension settings to match the Prelude to the driver’s mood or the road.
A Familiar Yet Different Interior
- Key takeaway: Only one trim level will be available at launch; it comes equipped with seating with firmer padding for the driver, a Bose sound system, Google Built-In, and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
While there are some similarities inside between the Prelude and the Civic, the new coupe sports a new center console, different door panels and sport seats. Honda has taken a unique approach to seating in the Prelude, too; while the front seats don’t look different from each other in photos, Honda applied firmer padding and more aggressive thigh bolsters to the driver’s seat than to the front passenger’s seat. Interior color choices are black or an attractive blue and white two-tone, both featuring blue stitching.
The Prelude will debut in a single well-equipped trim level that features black 19-inch wheels, perforated leather seating, heated front seats, metal pedals, wireless phone charging, an eight-speaker Bose Centerpoint sound system, a 10.2-inch digital instrument panel, and a 9-inch touchscreen with Google Built-In and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Standard Safety Features, Optional Accessories
The Honda Sensing safety suite is also standard on the Prelude and features forward collision warning with pedestrian detection, automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, lane-centering steering, lane departure warning and steering assist, blind spot monitors, rear cross-traffic alert, traffic-jam assist, a driver attention monitor, road-sign recognition and automatic high beams.
At the same time as the Prelude goes on sale, Honda will launch a line of accessories that includes different 19-inch wheels, a rear spoiler, a front splitter, and black badges and mirror caps. High-performance summer tires will also be available.
Read More Honda News:
- Honda Bringing Prelude Back to U.S. as Hybrid
- How Much Is the 2026 Honda Civic?
- Which Hybrid Vehicles Have All-Wheel Drive?
- Honda, Acura EV Owners Now Have Access to Tesla Superchargers
- 2026 Honda CR-V Hybrid TrailSport Review: A Compromise Against Compromises
Release Date and Pricing
The 2026 Honda Prelude will arrive at dealerships late this fall, and pricing will be announced closer to the start of sales. Expect its pricing to land somewhere between the Civic hybrid and Type R’s, though that’s a broad window; the 2026 version of the gas-electric sedan starts at about $30,000 and the 2025 Type R north of $47,000 (prices include destination).
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Cars.com’s Editorial department is your source for automotive news and reviews. In line with Cars.com’s long-standing ethics policy, editors and reviewers don’t accept gifts or free trips from automakers. The Editorial department is independent of Cars.com’s advertising, sales and sponsored content departments.
