Slow to get into the EV market, Acura is making up for lost time. With its first, the ZDX, soon to reach showrooms, the luxury brand is hinting at what could come next with this teaser image. The Acura Performance EV Concept is set to debut at Monterey Car Week later this month.
Unlike the Acura ZDX – which is based on the same platform as the Chevy Blazer EV (seen here) – the concept debuts an all-new Acura EV platform.
Long relegated to the second tier of luxury brands, Acura is looking to gain more traction and sees the opportunity to do so with the ongoing shift to battery-electric vehicles.
It’s launched its first model, the ZDX, but has plans to add a number of additional EVs. And this teaser image appears to suggest what could follow.
“Acura will once again take center stage during Monterey Car Week for the world debut of an exciting new concept vehicle,” the automaker said in an accompanying news release. “A segment defying sport utility vehicle, the dynamically styled concept previews the performance brand’s next generation all-electric model – the first to be built in Ohio on the company’s new dedicated EV platform.
Moving beyond GM
With the exception of Nissan, Japanese automakers have been slow to embrace battery-electric propulsion. Realizing it was falling behind at a time when new EV mandates were going into effect around the world, Honda Motor Co. officials realized they needed to finally get out of the blocks. They turned to General Motors for help. Both the Acura ZDX and more mainstream Honda Prologue are based on the same GM Ultium platform used for the U.S. automaker’s Chevrolet Blazer EV.
Honda revealed two “0 Series” EV concepts at CES in January.
Going forward, Acura will rely on its own technology, including this all-new platform. We’ve not had any official word but it’s likely a safe bet to assume it will be based on the O-Series platforms that Honda announced during a CES news conference last January.
Not much is known about it yet, though it’s expected to use a skateboard-style design, with batteries and motors mounted below the load floor. That approach yields a lower center of gravity and more interior space, including a flat load floor.
There’s a possibility Honda may increase the platform’s flexibility, as Stellantis has done with its “multi-energy” architecture, so it also can be used for gas and hybrid options, as well. But that approach seems less likely than a pure EV design.
New design
The 2024 Acura Integra – the Type S seen here – boasts the brand’s latest design language.
As we’ve seen with other recent Acura models, notably the Integra, the brand is looking to sharpen its design language to yield a sportier, more dynamic appearance. Expect to see the Acura Performance EV Concept take things to the next stage.
That starts with the revised approach to badging shown on the teaser. As several luxury competitors – notably Lexus – have done lately, the concept swaps out the familiar Acura icon for a spelled-out version of the brand name.
The teaser image has been carefully cropped at shaded to avoid giving away too much. What we see is the upper rear of the concept. The roofline is clearly coupe-like, with a steeply raked back window. The tail all but certainly serves as a built-in spoiler. And there are twin lines of taillights, the lower portion featuring thread-like vertical lines.
More Honda/Acura News
What is it?
There’s some speculation the Precision EV Concept could be Acura’s response to this Toyota Crown Signia.
Whether this is a new sports coupe or something truly segment-defying remains to be seen. Some speculation would have us anticipate that Acura will deliver its own take on the not-quite-SUV/not-quite sedan approach that Toyota has taken with the new Crown family.
The bigger automaker has had some reasonable success, enough that it is in the midst of expanding the Crown family.
But where the Toyota Crown line is all-hybrid, whatever we’ll see from Acura will be all-electric. And, unlike its rival, it will be building the production version of the Performance EV Concept here in the U.S.
Look for more to be revealed in a few weeks during a news conference during the annual Monterey Car Week wrapped around the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
Honda should save their money and ditch Acura. It isn’t working! Ditto for Ford/Lincoln.