Acura has canceled production of the all-electric ZDX, largely due to weak sales and concerns about the future of the EV market. But the Japanese luxury brand isn’t giving up on battery power entirely. It’s moving forward on plans to launch the new RSX EV sometime next year, reports Headlight.News.
Sales of the Acura ZDX failed to get charged up.
The ZDX is dead. Acura has quite literally pulled the plug on its first all-electric model due to weak sales and other concerns.
The move comes at a time when a number of automakers, including Stellantis, Nissan and Porsche, have begun reevaluating their EV programs due to weakening demand. But Acura isn’t giving up entirely. The automaker still plans to bring out the all-electric RSX sometime next year.
If anything, Acura hopes that model will better connect with its buyers as RSX is being developed entirely in-house. The ZDX was part of a joint venture between Acura parent Honda and General Motors and that led to a number of compromises in terms of design, performance and technology.
Troubled times for EVs
Acura remains committed to adding EVs to its line-up.
As of September 30, 2025, federal tax credits for qualified battery-electric vehicles will come to an end under the spending bill passed by Congress last July. EV sales have been surging in recent weeks as buyers race to take advantage of the incentives – which run as high as $7,500 on new models.
Demand is expected to slacken off sharply come October. A recent study by AutoPacific, Inc. forecasts the U.S. EV market share will top out at just around 12% through the end of the decade, just over half what the research firm anticipated before Congress ended the tax credits.
That would still mean U.S. EV sales could reach 2 million by 2030, but many automakers have decided that’s not enough to support the plans they initially had in place. Stellantis, for example, killed off the all-electric version of the Ram pickup this week, while Nissan won’t build the Ariya in 2026. And Porsche’s CEO Oliver Blume confirmed the performance brand is making cuts and delays in its own EV plans.
ZDX never really connected
The Acura ZDX shared the same underpinnings as the Chevrolet Blazer EV.
In the case of the ZDX, the Acura EV never really appeared to connect with consumers. Launched late in 2024, only about 11,000 were purchased by U.S. motorists during the first eight months of this year. That’s less than half the number of Honda Prologues during the same period. And while Honda’s EV has been gaining momentum, demand for the upscale Acura model has been flat, at best, even with incentives that could bring its price down well below that of the plebian Chevrolet Blazer which shares the same platform.
“To better align our product portfolio with the needs of our customers and market conditions, as well as our long-term strategic goals, we can confirm the Acura ZDX has ended production.”
Slow sales aren’t the only reason why Acura appears to have killed off the ZDX. It was really little more than an unwanted stepchild. Not only was the EV just a gussied up version of Prologue, but it was developed as part of a joint venture with General Motors which sells its version under several badges, including the Chevrolet Blazer.
More Acura News
- Acura RSX Prototype Debuts During Monterey Car Week
- 2026 Acura Integra Gets New Tech, Updated Design
- First Drive: Acura ZDX Type-S
Betting on the RSX
An Acura RSX Prototype made its debut during Monterey Car Week in August.
That’s not to say ZDX was a bad product. It actually received generally positive reviews – though it was frequently noted by journalists and shoppers alike that the EV didn’t quite feel like an Acura. Though GM and Honda did make efforts to differentiate their versions of the midsize battery-electric vehicle they could only go so far.
Showed in prototype form during Monterey Car Week in August, RSX will be Acura’s first model based on the new 0 Series EVs under development by Honda – and teased at the Consumer Electronics Show last January. Developed entirely in-house, it will have to make far fewer compromises in terms of design, performance, dynamics and technology – though the underlying platform still will be shared with Honda.
Expect the Acura RSX to debut sometime in 2026, possibly as a 2027 model, according to early Honda comments and what industry watchers have determined about current plans. Honda will launch its first 0 Series model about the same time.
Where RSX was rolling off the same GM assembly plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee as the Chevy Blazer, the new 0 Series models will emerge from the new Honda EV Hub being set up in mid-Ohio. That should reduce the Acura RSX’s exposure to the Trump auto tariffs – which add 15% duties on vehicles imported from Japan. But there will still be some tariff costs on imported parts and components set to be used in the new luxury EV.
For now, Honda plans to continue producing the Prologue EV.
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