Pros	Cons
✓ Handsome styling	☓ Strongly GM interior (for better or worse)
✓ Undeniably quick with 500 horsepower	☓ Some 500-hp Cadillac Lyriq variants are cheaper
✓ Comfortable, quiet ride
✓ Packed with technology

2024 Acura ZDX Overview: Is the brand’s first SUV a hit?

The last time you saw or heard the ZDX name, Acura was using it on an upmarket alternative to the similar (but not directly related) Honda Crosstour. Now, it’s back, but not as you’d recognize it. This time, the 2024 Acura ZDX is an all-electric model with a more conventional, but certainly sharp SUV look. With its floating roof design, strong character lines and thin LED headlights, the new ZDX tracks closely to 2022’s Precision EV Concept, though there’s more to this latest Acura than meets the eye.

As it happens, the 2024 Acura ZDX is the culmination of a strategic partnership with General Motors: A tie-up that is also responsible for the mainstream Honda Prologue. As such, this car rides on the same Ultium platform as the Cadillac Lyriq and Chevy Blazer EV among several others, and initial production is happening at GM’s Spring Hill, Tennessee plant alongside the Lyriq.

Acura invited TFL Studios out to southern California to test the Type S variant of its new electric SUV, promising stellar performance to go with the well-proportioned (especially for an EV) looks. The automaker’s engineers set out to make their own distinctive tweaks to make this car feel like an Acura, specifically with regard to the chassis and suspension setup to make it feel more like a dynamic driving tool and less like a soft and floaty luxury SUV. “Feel like an Acura” is a relative term depending on which era in the brand’s history you’re talking about. More importantly, though, does it do enough to make itself a worthy stablemate to the other Type S models, as well as a feasible alternative to GM’s own Ultium models?

Beyond just the Type S we drove here, the 2024 Acura ZDX lineup starts at $65,850 for the base A-Spec with rear-wheel drive, excluding the available $7,500 federal EV tax credit. The single-motor version boasts a decent 358 horsepower and 324 lb-ft of torque, as well as the best range, at 313 miles. The all-wheel drive, dual-motor ZDX bumps the output up to 490 horsepower and 437 lb-ft of torque with only a slight drop in range to 304 miles. Finally, the Type S packs the most power (499 horsepower and 544 lb-ft of torque), but gets the worst range of the group, with just 278 miles between charges. All models use the same 102-kWh battery pack.

The 2024 Acura ZDX Type S is the brand’s most powerful SUV to date

Right off the bat, one factor the performance-oriented ZDX has is power and acceleration. With “nearly 500 horsepower” on tap (Acura does not quote the exact 499 hp figure in its marketing material, so you’re pretty much expected to just round up), this model makes the 0-60 sprint in around 4.5 seconds. That’s not bad for a 6,052-pound SUV, though it needs to make its case as a solid-handling SUV like the superb TLX Type S and even its gas-powered cousin, the MDX Type S, to get a stamp of approval to have that badge on an EV.

Fortunately, the 2024 Acura ZDX Type S has some special touches that help its case. It gets 15.3-inch, six-piston Brembo brakes at the front with ventilated rotors all around, as well as adaptive ride height air suspension. Put it in Sport mode, and the car drops about 0.6 inches, while it can also rise up another inch when needed, like when you put it in Snow mode. The ZDX Type S also has adaptive damping, which the Cadillac Lyriq doesn’t have, and that does help Acura’s electric SUV feel tauter and more composed when you’re in a spirited driving mood. Like other Type S model, there’s also an Individual setting so you can adjust the throttle, suspension and steering effort to your tastes.

That’s all good, and the limited opportunity we had to get the ZDX Type S on some twisty roads didn’t faze that is, again, a three-ton SUV. There’s more than enough punch to make passing maneuvers a breeze, and Sport mode doesn’t compromise the otherwise comfortable ride too much. Like other EVs, the ZDX does pipe in artificial sound through the speakers, but Kase and I found it does so fairly naturally under both acceleration and even braking, so it’s not an unwelcome or annoying intrusion. What’s more, it feels a little more natural if you’re coming from expecting gas engine sounds, so you’re not sitting in this eerie silence when you’re zipping up and down the 101, like we were.

Acura offers the ZDX Type S with 22-inch wheels and high-performance 275/40-R22 Continental PremiumContact 6 tires for an extra $1,000. If you opt not to get the Performance Wheel & Tire package, you still get machined 22×9.5-inch wheels, but with all-season tires instead.

Here’s my biggest interior gripe with the “performance” 2024 Acura ZDX Type S.

Both the drive mode and air suspension switches are almost completely obfuscated from your sight. In fact, neither is on the center console or anywhere near it. To change drive modes, you have to press a small rocker switch down by your left knee (shown to the left of the steering wheel, below)…next to the parking brake. It’s not a brilliant idea when GM did it, and it’s even worse in this application. If this is a performance-oriented SUV, why obscure the buttons that make it even sportier to the last places drivers expect? That’s mainly down to the interior design, which I’ll get to in a moment, so Acura doesn’t have the opportunity to make the drive mode selector a large knob with a branded button for the Individual mode, like it does on other Type S models.

The ZDX’s interior is a mixed bag

One thing I will say about the ZDX’s interior right off the bat — I love the 19-speaker Bang and Olufsen sound system. I love cranking my large rock playlist on road trips, and while it doesn’t pack as much kit as the 31-speaker setup in the revamped MDX Type S, it’s still a banging system. Better yet, it’s standard equipment, so you can save nearly $10,000 from the Type S’ $74,850 and get it with the base A-Spec. You also get standard heated leather seats, a heated steering wheel and a panoramic sunroof. Type S models, for their part, get memory functionality for the front passenger seat, as well as heated rear outboard seats, rear parking sensors, a 360-degree camera and automatic parking assist.

The Type S also gets another party trick with “Hands Free Cruise”. Even with the obvious shared platform and interior fixtures, Acura isn’t going to flat out call it Super Cruise, but that’s what it is. The system works well on pre-mapped divided highways like those in SoCal, and it even handles automated lane changes as soon as you click the indicator on. Sadly, it’s not available on the A-Spec, even as an option.

Overall, the interior of the new ZDX is comfortable and spacious.

Second-row legroom comes in at 39.4 inches, although the 37 inches of headroom under that panoramic sunroof will make those above six feet tall a bit uncomfortable on longer trips. With 28.7 cubic feet of cargo volume behind the rear seats and 63.0 cubic feet with the seats folded, the ZDX is competitive for the class. It’s not quite as commodious as a Tesla Model Y, but it’s still a perfectly practical SUV for family duty.

While the 2024 Acura ZDX and its Type S variant feature a well-equipped interior, there’s no escaping this simple fact: It is a GM interior, by and large. Much of the switchgear is exactly the same, as is the electronic column-mounted shifter and the dual 11-inch displays. The Acura gets another bank of central switches for the heated and ventilated seats, a different badge on the whee and different HVAC vents, but whether you’ll like the design depends on whether you like GM’s other vehicles, to an extent.

The interior materials as a result are fine, though I though the center console plastic around the cupholders and the dashboard to feel a bit chintzy for a nearly $75,000 SUV. I’m sure it will stay the course just fine (and at least it’s not all piano black trim), but it clashes with the at least slightly nicer feeling bits of the interior like the leather-wrapped wheel and the seats. And while folks shopping this car will naturally compare it against the Lyriq, GM obviously kept some of the nicer bits — including the nicer-looking buttons and 33-inch curved OLED display — for itself.

Still, the 2024 Acura ZDX is a good performer and a value leader.

Over the past few years, Acura has put serious (and largely successful, to my mind) effort to redefine its performance ambitions within the Type S brand. I like all the current Type S models, and I like the ZDX Type S too. If you can look past the strong GM vibes with the interior, the ZDX is a sharp-looking, solid driving SUV against its main EV rivals including the Mercedes-Benz EQB, the Lexus RZ, the Genesis GV60 and Electrified GV70, the Volvo XC40 and C40 Recharge (or EX40/EC40 moving forward), and obviously GM’s own Ultium EVs like the Cadillac Lyriq and Chevy Blazer EV.

Thanks to that Ultium connection, this car is eligible for the $7,500 tax credit, bringing the out-the-door MSRP down to between $58,350 for the RWD A-Spec and $67,350 for the Type S. On balance, I’d strongly recommend just going for the Type S for the extra features, but you can get nearly the same power and some extra range with the AWD A-Spec, and save some money in the process.

Adding to the value discussion are the charging solutions Acura offers. With each ZDX purchase, you have a few options for charging packages. You can either get a $500 Level 2 charger installation credit and $100 of public charging credit; a Level 1 and 2 portable charger, $250 installation credit and $300 of public charge credit; or bypass the home chargers altogether and just get $750 of public charging credit. On the public charging front, the ZDX DC fast-charges at 190 kW — that’s pretty average, but not exceptionally quick by today’s standards. Acura says you can charge from 20-80% state-of-charge in about 42 minutes at that speed.

Here’s one way to look at it, if you’re in the market: If you want pure value or pure performance numbers, go for the Blazer EV or the SS variant. If you want luxury above all else, go for the Cadillac Lyriq. If you want a good mix of both and a ton of standard tech, then the 2024 ZDX Type S makes a strong case for itself, even if it’s not a fully homegrown Acura.