- After earlier teasers, Acura finally debuts its first-ever electric model: the 2024 ZDX.
- The ZDX will be available to pre-order later this year in either A-Spec or Type S variants, with the latter putting out 500 horsepower.
- Actual deliveries will begin in early 2024.
- Acura says their fully electric crossover will achieve up to 325 miles on a charge with the single-motor A-Spec, while the much more powerful Type S should manage 288 miles.
- Exact pricing is not available yet, but the ZDX A-Spec should start in the $60,000 range.
Remember the Precision EV concept? Acura’s production ZDX isn’t too far off what we saw there.
Honda and its luxury marque aren’t yet cranking out a deluge of new electric models. However, the 2024 Acura ZDX debuting today during Monterey Car Week is a jumping off point: a culmination of what the brand teased with its Precision EV Concept last year. Now that we’re looking at the production-intent version, we have a much better idea of what to expect in terms of styling, performance and price when pre-order holders get their cars and the first examples hit showrooms early next year.
As is the way in the transition from concept to production model, the 2024 Acura ZDX isn’t quite so angular from every possible angle. Designers dialed things back a bit, to the point where the ZDX looks right at home next to the brand’s gas-powered models like the MDX. You still get a flush faux-grille, though the lower fascia opens up for better battery pack cooling. Acura also incorporates their signature headlights and brings in conventional door handles rather than Tesla or Mercedes-like units, so we’re not talking about a car that banks too hard on being super futuristic.
Instead, the new Acura ZDX arrives sporting a similar trim walk to the ICE crossovers, as well. The A-Spec is your mainstream model, while the ZDX will also launch with a Type S performance variant. According to Acura’s figures, the ZDX Type S will put out a respectable 500 horsepower. The A-Spec, which actually comes as a single-motor, rear-wheel drive model by default, still offers up 340 horsepower. You will be able to get it in dual-motor form, but Acura did not specify whether you’ll actually get better performance (i.e. somewhere between the RWD A-Spec and the Type S) in the process.
The ZDX promises up to 325 miles, depending on which model you get
Regardless of whether you get the A-Spec or the Type S, every 2024 Acura ZDX will get the same 102-kWh lithium-ion battery pack. The car’s onboard charging supports up to 190 kW of DC fast charging. The company says that’s good enough for the rear-wheel drive model to replenish 81 miles of range in 10 minutes, based on its internal testing. Your mileage may quite literally vary, though, depending on the infrastructure in your area and what your local stations can reliably put out.
Acura and GM are also two of the seven automakers working on a new nationwide high-speed charging network in the US and Canada. By 2030, the joint-venture aims to build 30,000 new fast charging points.
Estimated range figures vary depending on which model you get, of course, though not as widely as you might expect. The single-motor model gets up to 325 miles, per Acura’s statement. Getting a dual-motor A-Spec will shave 10 miles off that number (for 315 miles per charge). Even springing for the 500-horsepower Type S may not hurt range that badly, either, as Acura says that model will still manage 288 miles.
The ZDX’s interior doesn’t exactly look like Acura’s usual fare…and there’s a good reason for that.
Look inside the 2024 Acura ZDX, and you’ll get a much better idea of this car’s common lineage with GM’s electric models. There’s joint development going on with Acura’s EV as well as the Honda Prologue, though it’s not terribly in your face unless you look a bit closer at the details. The ZDX does get a bespoke infotainment system that actually includes wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (GM won’t have either in its new EVs), as well as Google Apps baked in. The driver gets an 11-inch instrument cluster, while the center screen measures out to 11.5 inches.
Most of the upper dashboard is Acura-specific, but most of the switchgear and the steering wheel is straight-up Blazer or Equinox EV. That said, you do still get all the tech you’d expect, including a host of driver assistance systems like rear cross-traffic alert with pedestrian detection, blind-spot steering assist and automatic parallel parking assist. You also get an 18-speaker Bang and Olufsen sound system as standard equipment, which is a nice touch.
The so-called AcuraWatch 360+ suite also introduces a familiar GM feature to the brand’s lineup: Hands Free Cruise. Yes, it is Super Cruise, but since GM has that trademarked, you get a more generic name here. Nevertheless, the system functions actually the same and works on the same 400,000-or-so miles of compatible roads in North America.
Pricing and availability
While it didn’t give specifics, Acura did at least provide a ballpark figure for what the 2024 ZDX will cost. The base A-Spec will start around $60,000, while the Type S will sit in the $70,000 range.
Now, since the 2024 Acura ZDX will be manufactured and uses GM’s Ultium platform, it could actually qualify for the $7,500 federal EV tax credit. Acura did not say anything on the matter in its statement Thursday, so that’s still a bit of a question mark, but we’ll give an update with more concrete information on that front when it’s available.
