Acura's 2024 ZDX electric SUV has impressive 325-mile range, $60K starting price
The 2024 Acura ZDX, an electric luxury SUV General Motors will build for Honda’s premium brand, will have a range of up to 325 miles and prices starting “in the $60,000 range” when it goes on sale early in 2024.
The new ZDX features much more conventional SUV styling than the polarizing hatchback Acura sold under the same name from 2009-13. The ZDX shares its architecture and engineering with GM’s latest EVs, including their Ultium batteries, electric motors and software.
Unlike GM’s upcoming EVs, the ZDX will offer the popular Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone interfaces.
The Honda brand is also developing an EV with GM technology and production. Called the Prologue, it’s an SUV expected to go on sale in early 2024.
Up to 500 hp, RWD or AWD
The five-passenger ZDX has a 121.8-inch wheelbase and measures 197.7 inches long. It’s just 0.7 inch shorter than Acura’s MDX three-row family carrying SUV.
The ZDX will have a more sporty aspect, offering rear- or all-wheel drive. The single-motor RWD A Spec model will have 340 hp, while the top of the line AWD Type S will have motors on front and rear axles for AWD and 500 hp. It’ll be Acura’s most powerful SUV.
The Type S’s range should be 288 miles in EPA tests, Acura says. Final figures for range, price, charging time, etc. should be available closer to the ZDX’s sales date.
Acura says the ZDX will be able to tow 3,500 pounds. There’s no word on what effect towing has on battery range.
2024 Acura ZDX selected features
Five-passenger luxury electric SUV
Rear- or all-wheel drive
One or two electric motors
102 kWh battery capacity
20- or 22-inch aluminum wheels
All-season or summer tires
Bang & Olufsen audio available
Google built-in navigation, search, app store and other features
Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto standard
Automated parallel parking
Hands-free highway driving
Built by GM
Acura hasn’t said where the ZDX will be built, but the SUV's dimensions suggest it will be alongside Cadillac’s Lyriq electric SUV in Spring Hill, Tennessee. The two vehicles have the same wheelbase — the distance from the hubs of front wheels to rear — one of the dimensions that defines a vehicle.
Based on the Lyriq’s status, it seems likely the ZDX will qualify for U.S. federal tax credits, but Acura says it won’t know until closer to the start of sales.
The Lyriq was enthusiastically received when it debuted last summer. The EV’s launch has been hampered by production woes, however. GM sold just 2,316 Lyriqs in the first half of 2023. GM leaders say EV production and sales will increase significantly in the second half of the year.
Unique Acura design and interior
The ZDX’s interior and exterior designs appear to be completely different from the Lyriq, which features a low, wagon-like stance and 33 inches of continuous screens across the instrument panel. Photos of the ZDX show a more conventional dash, with a dual-binnacle gauge layout and separate, free-standing touch screen above the center stack. The Acura’s exterior sheet metal is unique for a look that’s consistent with the profile and detailing of vehicles like the award-winning Integra sedan.
Passenger space should be a strength, given the SUV’s size and the efficiency of EV engineering, which packages the battery under the passenger compartment and doesn’t require space for a bulky internal combustion engine, with its associated cooling and fuel systems.
Sporty platform, quick-charging, advanced features
The ZDX’s platform creates a low center of gravity and a 50/50 front/rear distribution of weight, two characteristics frequently associated with good road holding and handling. Acura engineers tuned the suspension
An 18-speaker, 14 channel Bang & Olufsen audio system will be standard. The system includes four speakers in the headliner and a subwoofer.
Safety features will include automatic braking for rear cross traffic, rear pedestrian alert and steering assist for vehicles in the blind spots.
The ZDX will offer hands-free highway driving on 400,000 miles of roads in the United States and Canada. Acura calls the system Hands Free Cruise, but it's pretty clearly a rebranding of GM’s Super Cruise system.
The ZDX will also be the first Acura with automated parallel parking.
The ZDX will be able to charge at up to 190 kW from DC fast chargers, enabling an 81-mile charge in about 10 minutes.
A smartphone app will allow one-step payment for charging at a number of charging networks, including the new one recently announced by a consortium of automakers including Honda, GM, BMW, Mercedes, Stellantis, Hyundai and Kia.
Contact Mark Phelan: 313-222-6731 or mmphelan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mark_phelan. Read more on autos and sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 2024 Acura ZDX to have range of 325 miles, prices starting at $60K
