When is an Acura not an Acura? When it’s based on General Motors’ bones, maybe. Welcome to the 2024 Acura ZDX, a luxury electric crossover unveiled at Monterey Car Week. It’s either the most successful Japanese-American automotive collaboration since NUMMI, or a sign of how far the Japanese automakers will go to catch up on electric vehicles.
First, let’s start with that nameplate. Back around the time of the Great Recession, Acura took a look at BMW’s coupe crossover handiwork and wanted in. The result was a sloped-roof MDX called ZDX that shared nearly nothing with the visually-similar Honda Accord Crosstour.
It was a weird car, but somehow, resale values are surprisingly insane. At a time when you can trade a Subway footlong for an early BMW X6, used ZDXs are worth actual money.
Now, this new ZDX isn’t a crossover coupe, but it is substantially sportier than Acura’s big MDX school bus. A strip of swooping brightwork suggests the greenhouse of Infiniti’s dearly-departed FX crossover, but the real silhouette is more akin to Chevrolet’s Blazer EV.
That’s because Acura is using GM’s Ultium hardware to expedite its EV rollout, and the ZDX exists as an odd interim solution of sorts. We all know the Japanese automakers are kind of behind on EVs in general, and while Honda’s building up its battery footprint in America and Acura’s ramping up its electric options, this buys them some time to get there.
As such, Acura had to stick with GM’s structure, jazzing it up by changing non-structural surfaces. Regardless, it’s a handsome interim solution with a better greenhouse than the Blazer, a strikingly conventional cab-rearward dash-to-axle ratio, and silver lower garnishes evoking a bygone era without feeling heavy-handed.
Will ZDX buyers know or care about its GM roots? That seems unlikely, especially because this EV has some key features the GM family doesn’t.
The single-motor rear-wheel-drive model features a 102-kWh battery pack, a 340-horsepower motor, 190 kW DC fast charging, and a range of 325 miles, not bad figures for a family hauler.
However, if you really want to go quickly, you’ll want to step up to the Type S model.
This high-output dual-motor machine pumps out 500 horsepower, rides on air suspension with adaptive damping, and hauls itself down from speed thanks to Brembo front calipers clamping massive 15.6-inch discs. It’s the all-singing, all-dancing Crunchwrap Supreme of ZDX crossovers, and it can still go 288 miles on a charge.
The dashboard of the ZDX falls in an uncanny valley between Acura and Chevrolet, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. For instance, no Acura trackpad! Materials have certainly been jazzed up with stitched surfaces on the dash pad and door cards, but the sculpting of the interior isn’t anything spectacular.
Mind you, this shouldn’t be surprising—Acura had to work with Chevrolet’s hard points and switchgear, and only a certain number of things can be done with those constrictions.
However, one big thing that Acura didn’t keep is Chevrolet’s insistence on ditching Apple CarPlay. It shouldn’t take a genius to realize that there are zillions of new car-buying Apple users out there, and Acura should pick up what customers GM drops.
Speaking of in-car tech, top-flight audio in the ZDX is an 18-speaker Bang & Olufsen audio system, a noted departure from the precision brand’s typical Panasonic-built ELS systems. This is likely because GM has an agreement with Bang & Olufsen automotive rights-holder Harman International (Samsung) for all those AKG-branded systems in modern Cadillacs.
Like the original Acura ZDX, the new one makes a statement and seems to be a possible one-and-done generation as Acura develops its own EV platform. When the ZDX goes on sale in 2024, Acura claims the standard A-Spec trim will start “in the $60,000 range”, with the hi-po Type S starting “in the $70,000 range.”
That’s a good clip cheaper than BMW’s iX electric crossover, but not as inexpensive as Cadillac’s Lyriq EV. Still, if Acura aims for the lower end of the $60,000 bracket, the ZDX should be a very competitive crossover indeed.
(Photo credits: Acura)
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one of these rolled past me yesterday and pulled into a driveway which had played host to a Prologue last month (I’m in the Detroit area). Darker color body, and I was too distracted with the EV fake drive noise to notice the hearse flair. Seriously, this thing almost sings, sounds unlike other EVs rolling through the neighborhood. I wonder if that’s part of the Acura-specific tuning, or if Blazer EVs will be similarly musical?
100kwh battery pack is obscene. What a waste
Um. 100KWh is literally what other competitors have as well. A waste would be the Hummer EV battery pack that weighs as much as midsize sedan.
I don’t hate it, and as a former Acura owner I’m glad this doesn’t have their infotainment system (seriously its bad, the trackpad is just the beginning of why).
This is the ugliest 60k EV yet
Ultium? Does that mean GM will actually be able to produce these? So far, they haven’t actually had the parts/materials necessary to produce many of these battery packs.
As if Acura hasn’t been Honda’s Oldsmobile all along.
A ’66 Thunderbird isn’t the most obvious choice of inspiration for a new electric crossovers, sorta odd they went with retro landau bars on the c-pillars like that. Any chance Acura will offer a full vinyl roof option?
For some reasons, i’m more exited about the new Prius then this..
I’d buy a Honda/Acura over a GM product. they’re so much more reliable
/s
The chrome trim on the rear panel is giving me hearse Landau bar vibes.
Came here to say this
Let Hearse put you in the driver’s seat. I see it too.
My first thought was bright blue is a tacky color for a hearse.
Just the comment I came in for. Seems to be a popular opinion and one that’s probably going to stick.
I can’t wait for the floating roof styling tinkle too pass. This one is so bad it’s pretty much hearse territory.
Does this mean Honda is joining the NACS party? Or will they insist on using CCS for their rebadged Chevy?
They’ve confirmed that the Prologue and ZDX will switch to NACS without giving an official date IIRC. Logically I would guess that these two switch over when the Blazer and Lyriq switch over.
I’m not excited for Honda needing to team up with GM in desperation for EVs. What happened to you Honda?
While I still think Honda makes some nice, clean designs (this thing looks ok) the Acura brand itself seems sort of pointless these days. Both Honda and Acura seem to lack any really exciting products, and all of the endearingly quirky stuff from the 90’s to the 00’s is firmly in the rearview at this point. I’m just not impressed and being dependent on GM for their EV platforms doesn’t help.
In other news…
one edit: “As such, GM had to stick with GM’s structure,”
I think you meant “Acura had to stick with GM’s structure”?
Anyway I agree that 60K EV SUVs are getting boring.
Roll out an electrified Odyssey and I’ll get excited
PHEV Odyssey. This is what I want.
Acura is one of the very few brands where I can see a GM partnership actually bearing some fruit. That division needs to forcibly have its head yanked out of its posterior
Look at the thickness of that battery pack – woof! 102 kWh is a large pack for middling range. I wonder what the take up rate will be for the 500hp version with even less range. I mean, seriously, will it even be enough to justify the expense to design it?
Attractive vehicle and a nice effort overall so I hope they learn a lot from the GM partnership because this one is a loss leader, even at that price.
Given that I, er, associate with a group that uses “woof” as a term of endearment (and thick is often a compliment) I was very confused by your first sentence.
lol me 2, woof is a good thing!
Bears of Autopian unite!
I typically use “woof” for something that’s ugly or something that has not gone well.
Interchangeable with “yikes” for me.
Well, as they say, if you know, you know.
Woof !
I’m not a cat person, but aackura comes to mind.
I’m not a cat person either (sorry, David!), but I am a Bill the Cat person. So I endorse this message.
https://ackthbbbt.blogspot.com/p/what-does-ack-thbbbt-mean.html
That must be why dogs always bark when I walk by
I’m guessing it’s an outgrowth of “oof”.
As used in Home Alone it is not a term of endearment. See: “Buzz’s girlfriend, Woof!”
And seeing as Macaulay Culkin is an authority on this type of thing I consider this settled.
Too little too late. If this was released 2 years ago it would be the talk of the town but to say that the market is oversaturated with $60,000+ electric crossovers would be a monumental understatement. This is the exact same market that literally every vehicle manufacturer under the sun is all hot and bothered about at the exact same time.
Dealer lots are absolutely overflowing with $60,000 electric crossovers. We don’t need more of them, we need LESS of them. The “people willing to incinerate that much money to be an early adapter” market has already been exhausted. No one wants this shit anymore and buy here pay here lots will have the current EV crossovers lined up as far as the eye can see in a couple of years.
At a certain point the environmental benefits of cars like this are completely nullified by the mass quantities of material going to waste and I’d imagine we’re already there. We don’t need any more of these. Just stop it already and use the battery resources to PHEV or hybridize your normal cars.
Hell, Acura currently has ZERO PHEV or hybrids in their American lineup. The fuel economy of their offerings is consistently worst in class. Do something about that instead. Why would anyone buy an MDX that’s going to struggle to average 20 MPG in real world applications when they can go buy a PHEV Volvo that you might not even fill up monthly or a hybrid Lexus that’ll average 30+ MPG?
We’re missing the forest for the trees.
Yup all the auto execs are going to be shrugging their shoulders in disbelief when all these $60-80k EV SUV/Crossovers are not selling well in 2024/5. Bunch of idiots and hope they all get fired. But like I have said the gov’t will prolly come to the rescue and double or triple the tax credit for those made in USA EVs….. that are wasting the resources with high HP low range giant battery packs loaded with electricity sucking tech.
Remember most of these cars were greenlighted 5 years ago when $7500 federal incentives were applicable and Tesla Model Ys had a long backlog at $60k+. When things changed, I am sure they just wrote down a lot of it as R&D and decided to keep going.
Aren’t they already stacking up on the lots?
Will it be built in a GM factory?
Yes, Springhill, Tennessee
Wow, the same plant where they used to put Honda V6s into Saturn Vues. How the turn tables.
So will the door jamb placard say made by GM or made by Honda?