The 2024 Acura ZDX will be the brand’s first EV

Acura will launch its first all-electric car in 2024, and when it arrives, it will carry a familiar name: the ZDX. Acura on Thursday confirmed it will resurrect the name of the your old SUV, love it or hate it for this brand new EV, and the company said a higher-performance ZDX Type S variant is also on the cards.

The “Z” in “ZDX” stands for “zero emissions,” so it works with the -DX naming convention that Acura uses for its SUVs. “When we envisioned this vehicle, we didn’t think of it as a continuation of one model line into the next,” Emil Korkor, Acura’s assistant vice president of sales, told me in an interview. “The fact that it starts with a ‘Z’ is just perfect.”

The original ZDX was on sale from 2009 to 2013 and was frankly a bit ahead of its time. No, the style wasn’t for everyone (I liked it!), but it was one of the original crossover coupes — a body style that’s all the rage these days. Korkor said the new ZDX will also be a highly styled vehicle and its design language is previewed by Acura Precision EV Concept which also debuted during Monterey Auto Week on Thursday.

When it goes on sale in 2024, the ZDX will ride on the same electric vehicle architecture as the upcoming Honda Prologuewhich is being developed in conjunction with General Motors. ZDX will use GM’s Ultium battery technology and should sit between the RDX and MDX crossovers in terms of size.

The ZDX is the first big step in Acura’s electrification plans. In 2026, the company will launch cars based on its own EV architecture, aiming to become a fully electric automaker by 2040.