Acura’s first electric vehicle, a GM-based SUV, is out for testing ahead of 2024 debut [images]

Acura’s first electric vehicles – the ZDX and ZDX Type S performance models – are out for testing ahead of their 2024 debut, revealing a first glimpse of the automaker’s electric future.

Acura’s first electric vehicle prototype hits the roads

Acura is a brand we don’t cover often because, up until now, the automaker has not had an electric vehicle in production to speak of. The automaker’s parent company, Honda, has also been a laggard regarding fully electric technology.

Honda teamed up with General Motors in 2021 to accelerate its EV strategy using GM’s Ultium platform to power Acura and Honda electric vehicles.

In April, GM and Honda announced they would take the partnership a step further, with plans to codevelop a series of affordable EVs. We gained a closer look at what Acura’s electric car may look like with its Precision SUV concept, but you know how it goes with concepts. Nobody knows if it will see the light of day, or if it does, it can look completely different.

Acura says its first EV models will incorporate many of the same design elements and features of the concept as it gives us a sneak peek of what that will entail. Although the Acura ZDX and ZDX Type S are cloaked in “S-patterned “Type S” camouflage, you can still see the overall profile, which resembles a mid-size SUV, a premium option above Honda’s Prologue.

The Acura ZDX and ZDX Type S electric vehicles will be officially unveiled next year, the brand’s first zero-emission production models.

Acura says as it “races toward an electrified future,” its Type S line will continue to deliver the same driver-oriented performance. Emile Korkor, assistant vice president of Acura National Sales, said:

The Acura ZDX represents the start to what will be an accelerated path toward electrification by the end of the decade and the key role the Acura brand will play in our company’s global goal to achieve carbon neutrality in 2050.

Honda says it plans to invest around $40 billion to produce 30 battery electric vehicles over the next decade. The automaker partnered with CATL to secure enough battery capacity for well over 1 million EVs from 2024 to 2030, aligning with when the brand’s first electric vehicles are expected to make their debut.