Acura’s first electric vehicle (EV), the 2024 Acura ZDX, will appear in customer driveways in “early spring,” the company says. It will produce up to 500 horsepower, making it “the most powerful Acura SUV ever,” according to the luxury marque of Honda. But it starts at $64,500 (plus a mandatory delivery fee that likely adds another $1,350). That figure makes it more expensive than some SUVs that share many of its components.
A Familiar Name
If the name ZDX sounds familiar, you may remember an earlier Acura. Many luxury automakers today build “SUV Coupes” – vehicles with an SUV’s high-riding stance but a coupe’s sleek roofline not built to maximize cargo space. Acura sold one of the first under the ZDX name from 2010 to 2013. That vehicle had limited success.
But the company has resurrected the name for a more traditionally shaped SUV.
Familiar Parts
It’s Acura’s first electric car, but it’s not the first to bring many of its parts to market. Honda is building its first two electric vehicles – the Honda Prologue and the ZDX – in partnership with General Motors. They ride on the Ultium platform – a combination of batteries, electric motors, suspension, and steering components that engineers can scale up or down to create different types of vehicle.
That means the ZDX shares many of its specifications and performance details with GM EVs like the Cadillac Lyriq and the 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV.
Acura Flavor
But no one will mistake it for anything but an Acura in the parking lot. It shares a family resemblance with today’s RDX and MDX. But it updates their look with a grille-less front end (EVs don’t need the airflow), three prominent hood ridges, and a floating-look roof, lending it a sleek appearance.
Acura will sell the ZDX with a choice of two powertrains – a rear-wheel-drive (RWD) setup making 340 horsepower or an all-wheel-drive (AWD) dual-motor arrangement good for 500.
The latter appears on the Type S – Acura’s branding for performance models – and comes with “a height-adjustable air suspension, performance-tuned adaptive dampers, and massive 15.6-inch Brembo front brakes with eye-catching 6-piston yellow calipers.”
Charging Options in the Price Tag
The company will help owners with the logistics of going electric. Buyers can choose from three charging packages included in the purchase price.
One, geared for those who will do most of their charging at home, provides $500 toward installation of a home charger (that will cover most of the cost for most buyers) and $100 to use at EVgo-branded public chargers.
One geared toward those who will charge mostly in public or who already have a home charger offers $750 on EVgo public chargers and no assistance with home charging.
A third splits the difference — $250 toward home installation and $300 for use at public chargers.
All buyers also get 60kWh worth of free charging at Electrify America stations.
A Value Question
The charging package makes the ZDX a compelling all-in-one package for those buying an EV for the first time. But the price might give some buyers pause.
The ZDX shares many of its parts with the Lyriq, which starts at $58,590, and the Blazer EV, which starts at just $51,800. We have to wonder whether buyers will be willing to pay more for an Acura badge and styling.
Honda won’t be borrowing GM designs forever. The company has begun teasing a lineup of EVs designed fully in-house to be sold under the Honda Zero name.
2024 Acura ZDX Pricing
Acura hasn’t announced a destination charge for the ZDX yet but charges a mandatory $1,350 on its other SUVs. We expect the ZDX to carry a similar freight fee, which dealers will add to the MSRPs listed here.
| Trim Level | Drive Configuration | MSRP |
| A-Spec | Rear wheel drive (RWD) | $64,500 |
| A-Spec | All-Wheel Drive (AWD) | $68,500 |
| Type S | AWD | $73,500 |
| Type S W/Performance Wheel & Tire Package | AWD | $74,500 |
