Acura’s first electric vehicle will appear for the 2024 model year. It’s a strange recipe, blending a mostly forgotten name, GM parts, and a lovely concept car to produce an appealing midsize SUV. But, at first glance, it works.
The 500-horsepower version doesn’t hurt.
Meet the 2024 Acura ZDX.
Not quite a historic nameplate
If the name sounds familiar, you may remember a niche vehicle Acura sold from 2010 to 2013. That ZDX was the forerunner of today’s “SUV coupe” trend, combining an SUV’s higher stance with a coupe’s sportier roofline. It never took off in the U.S. — Acura sold just over 7,000 of them stateside in three years of trying — about how many MDX SUVs it sells in a month.
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Not quite Acura bones
The next ZDX will be unique in a different way.
It’s built on the GM Ultium platform through an agreement with General Motors. That means the ZDX shares much of its architecture with the Cadillac Lyriq and the upcoming 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV. Parent company Honda
HMC,
is developing its own EV platforms and says future Acura EVs will not all be co-developed with GM
GM,
Acura engineers tweaked the Ultium platform enough to give the ZDX different specifications. The company will offer three versions.
An A-Spec single-motor trim level will make 340 horsepower with one electric motor driving the rear wheels. Acura says it “is expected to start in the $60,000 range.” An A-Spec dual-motor version will use two motors for all-wheel drive (AWD). Acura hasn’t revealed power figures for that one. The company claims a range of 325 miles with one motor and 315 with two, though the EPA hasn’t weighed in on that.
A ZDX Type S will also be AWD and get 500 horsepower. It rides on an adaptive air suspension and gets high-performance Brembo front brakes. The Type S will start at around $70,000. It is estimated to travel 288 miles between charges.
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Quite a striking look
It may be partially a GM product underneath, but the body is all-new and all-Acura. A toned-down take on last year’s dramatic Precision concept, it bears an obvious family resemblance to today’s RDX and MDX. But it adds dramatic flair with a long hood marked by three prominent ridges. A floating roof design emphasizes the visual length.
Inside, a high-mounted central touchscreen is a fairly standard 11.3 inches but looks larger thanks to control surfaces mounted next to it that look like more screen real estate. Acura says it also comes with “an intuitive touchscreen interface and wireless Apple
AAPL,
CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility.”
With GM abandoning Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, the ZDX may be the only way for Ultium fans (is that a thing?) to get the platform with popular phone integration tools.
Every model gets the same Bang & Olufsen sound equipment; a “bespoke system has been engineered exclusively for the tech-rich cabin of the all-electric SUV with 18 speakers, including four in the headliner, 14-channels of amplification and a subwoofer to deliver powerful and sophisticated sound.”
Honda and Acura have not announced plans to join other automakers switching to Tesla’s EV charging plug. Instead, the company says, “As a part of an announced joint venture between seven major automakers, Acura EV clients will have access to a leading high-speed brand-neutral charging network in the United States and Canada starting in 2024.”
Acura seems to have partially backed away from plans to sell its EVs only online. The company says, “All Acura ZDX sales will take place through a new, omnichannel digital sales process, ensuring a simple and intuitive shopping experience from home or at an Acura dealership. Pre-sale activities for ZDX will start later this year, with first client deliveries slated for early 2024.”
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This story originally ran on KBB.com.
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