Acura will launch its first fully electric vehicle in 2024, and when it arrives, it'll have a familiar name: ZDX. Acura on Thursday confirmed it'll resurrect the name of its old love-it-or-hate-it SUV for this brand-new EV, and the company said a higher-performance ZDX Type S variant is in the cards, as well.

The "Z" in "ZDX" is meant to signify "zero-emissions," so it works with the -DX naming convention Acura uses for its SUVs. "When we imagined this vehicle, we didn't think of it as a continuation of one model line into the next," Emile Korkor, Acura's assistant vice president of sales, told me in an interview. "The fact that it starts with a 'Z' is just kind of perfect."

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The original ZDX was sold from 2009 to 2013, and honestly, it was kind of ahead of its time. No, the styling 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 stylized vehicle, and its design language is previewed by the Acura Precision EV concept that also debuted during Monterey Car Week on Thursday.

When it goes on sale in 2024, the ZDX will ride on the same electric vehicle architecture as the upcoming Honda Prologue, which is being co-developed with General Motors. The ZDX will use GM's Ultium battery technology and should slot between the RDX and MDX crossovers in terms of size.

The ZDX is the first major step in Acura's electrification plans. In 2026, the company will launch vehicles based on its own EV architecture, with the goal of becoming a fully electric automaker by 2040.

Acura Precision EV Concept Points the Way Forward

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