Piggybacking off a rival brand’s platform is a great way for an automaker to fast-track its entry into a new sector. And that’s exactly what Acura is doing to bring its first electric SUV to North American buyers.
The ZDX rides on the same GM Ultium platform you’ll find under SUVs like the new Chevy Blazer and Cadillac Lyriq, but as these new spy shots show, Acura’s designers have been working hard to ensure that’s not obvious from the outside.
We’ve spotted prototypes of the ZDX testing before, but these latest images show the EV almost completely undisguised and very close to production spec. They also confirm that the car we’ll be able to buy next year, possibly after a fall 2023 reveal, will look uncannily similar to the Precision EV Concept Acura displayed at Monterey Car Week in August last year. The white test car is still sporting placeholder headlights, but for the first time, we can see the lower bumper design and D-pillar trim exactly as it will look when the SUV reaches showrooms.
Related: Acura ZDX To Be Sold Exclusively Online, Updated TLX Due Later This Year
And though the rear shots are of a car wearing camouflage, they show the production rear lights. Only the outer lamp clusters are illuminated but it’s obvious that when the car makes production the light will reach across and into the rear hatch, just like it did on the Precision concept.
While GM has opted to drop Apple CarPlay and Android Auto from its Ultium cars in favor of a proprietary system, Acura will continue to offer the tech, and also offer in-built Google Maps and Play for the first time. And although Acura is keeping quiet about the exact powertrain lineup, it did happily reveal that a Type-S version was in the works by covering a prototype in ’S’ logos.
We’re hoping the Type-S will get the same 557 hp (565 PS / 415 kW) bi-motor drivetrain as the Chevy Blazer SS because that will mean zero to 60 mph (97 km/h) in less than four seconds. But whether Acura will offer lower-spec models with front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, or all-wheel drive, all of which are possible on the Blazer, remains to be seen.
