Like its more mainstream parent Honda, luxury brand Acura is set to migrate to battery power during the coming decade — and it will reveal its first all-electric model at this month’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, it confirmed today.
Acura isn’t saying much about the BEV, issuing a terse statement accompanying a teaser image. “See the future of Acura design, electrified, on August 18 at Monterey Car Week,” it declared.
But some significant details of the project have begun leaking out.
A pioneer hoping to regain momentum with a little help
The Honda Motor Co. was an early pioneer in electrification, starting with the debut of the quirky Honda Insight hybrid two decades ago. It briefly followed with an all-electric SUV to meet a short-lived California EV mandate but soon pulled that vehicle from production. Since then, it has rolled out an assortment of hybrids and plug-in hybrids, but has avoided reentering the all-electric market.
That’s about to change — with a little help from erstwhile rival General Motors. To help speed up development of a battery-electric vehicle, Honda turned to GM to develop two models using its Ultium batteries and platform.
It has already confirmed plans for the first of those, the Honda Prologue. The more upscale Acura electric vehicle will follow, though both are expected to be in U.S. showrooms by 2024.
What we know
The Acura model is believed to be a crossover, and meant to target the likes of the Tesla Model Y, as well as the new Nissan Ariya set to arrive in showrooms later this year. Another competitor will be the new Cadillac Lyriq, an electric CUV that is just beginning to roll into U.S. showrooms.
Like the Lyriq, the as yet-unnamed Acura model will use GM’s Ultium batteries and skateboard-style platform. “But everything above the platform will be uniquely Honda and uniquely Acura,” Dave Gardner, Honda’s executive vice president, told Automotive News in March 2021.
The Acura model is expected to be offered with several different powertrain configurations, including both rear-wheel and all-wheel drive. The Japanese BEV may also be offered with more than one battery pack size, giving buyers a choice of standard and long range.
Like Lyriq, an upper range of around 300 miles is reportedly the target for the larger pack.
Production plans
GM is expected to produce both the Prologue and the Acura EV at its Spring Hill, Tennessee plant, the same facility now assembling the Lyriq.
Based on a trademark application filed by Honda last December, there has been speculation the Acura model will be called the ADX.
The partnership between Honda and General Motors has been expanded since Toshihiro Mibe came onboard as the Japanese automaker’s global CEO in April 2021. In April of this year, GM and Honda said they will work together to create “a series of affordable electric vehicles” for sale in the U.S. and other markets. They are planned to come in at a starting price of under $30,000 with production set to begin in 2027.
A platform of its own
While that is set to include more products based on the Ultium platform, Honda said it is moving forward with the development of its own electric vehicle platform — dubbed the e:Architecture. It is expected to go into production during the second half of this decade.
All told, Honda wants BEVs and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles to generate 40% of its North American sales by 2030, that figure expected to reach 80% by 2035.