The new Acura ZDX Type S battery-electric vehicle is great in so many ways. Here are our impressions after having a chance to test the vehicle.
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2024 Acura ZDX Type S - What Is It?
The Acura ZDX is a large crossover/wagon/hatchback vehicle. It seats five and is roomy in all respects. Type S means that it is the sporty trim.
2024 Acura ZDX Type S - How Much Does It Cost?
We tested the top trim of the ZDX. It had a consumer cost, including Acura’s Destination and Handling charge, but not including dealer Doc fees, of $75,450. Acura says that the ZDX qualifies for a $7,500 federal tax incentive. Your state may also have EV incentives. Acura offers three generous charging packages as part of the consumer cost with a value of as much as $750.
2024 Acura ZDX Type S - What Powers It?
The ZDX is battery-electric and comes in four different variations. Ours had the dual motor AWD setup. The torque rating is 544 lb-ft (!). With 500 hp, this is Acura’s most powerful vehicle - ever.
2024 Acura ZDX Type S - The Driving Experience
Entering the ZDX and settling in, one is struck by how large the vehicle is. It feels like a full-sized sedan inside. Roomy is an understatement. My wife and I both commented on this as we adjusted the seat. I’m six feet tall, and I felt like a little kid sitting inside my dad’s car. If you are a larger person, you’re going to appreciate the generous space ZDX offers.
Once underway, we experienced a luxury electric vehicle vibe. The ZDX does not feel tossable like a TLX sedan to us. If you catch our drift, it’s more of a heavy cruiser than a corvette. You sense there is a heft to the ZDX. It weighs fully 50% more than a TLX sedan. It weighs about 1,300 pounds more than an MDX. The weight is down low, so the center of gravity is also low, but with its long wheelbase and width, you won’t mistake the ZDX for a sports sedan. The ZDX has a very competent feel on the road. Substantial. Planted. Safe. Secure.
Acceleration is impressive. It can sprint from 0-60 MPH in about 4.5 seconds if you have the space to run. That’s about a half-second quicker than a TLX. If you need power to merge onto a highway or for passing, the ZDX delivers insane thrust. This is a strength of high-priced, high-power EVs.
Handling is very good. You are never going to intentionally drift a ZDX or test its limits in a corner. How would you catch a 6,000-pound full-size vehicle on a public road in a slide? Instead, you drive it at six-tenths or less and enjoy its ability to deliver a very pleasurable ride.
The ZDX’s suspension feels smooth and very comfortable, even over large bumps. This is despite wearing massive 22-inch low-profile tires. The ZDX delivers a luxury ride quality without any doubt. On the highway, this car is a hero. You gobble up miles. We found the Acura hands-free AcuraWatch 360+ assisted driving system to be superb. It worked great on Massachusetts Rt. 495. This Acura hands-free system is just one of many features you won’t find on any Tesla.
2024 Acura ZDX Type S - Infotainment and Interior Features
Acura’s ZDX has Google built-in, but it also has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. What’s not to love about having every possible choice? We tried Google Maps as part of the native system and found that it can be helpful when searching for public charging options. It can even prompt the vehicle to begin battery preconditioning so you make the most of your charging time. This is a system that relies on in-vehicle WiFi, which is a subscription. It’s included for three years, after which time the owner has to pay for it monthly to make it work. By contrast, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay use your phone’s data subscription.
Android Auto is better, in this tester’s opinion. With literally zero setup time, all of my apps like Pandora, Spotify, Audible, Google Maps, and more simply worked. Immediately. No need to input passwords, subscribe to another data plan, or fuss with settings. Unlike with Google Built-In, any destination I had searched for recently on any of my Chrome devices is suggested as a destination in Google Maps. Android Auto is wireless in the ZDX, and in my testing, was flawless and super fast loading.
One thing I always say in reviews about Acura vehicles is that “the controls are exactly where they should be.” You can toss your fob to a neighbor; she could hop in your Acura and shift it, turn on the wipers, lights, and all that jazz intuitively. Not so in the ZDX. Instead of the now familiar and much-loved Acura shifter system, we get a new column-mounted gadget. It’s fine. Just not the same as Acura’s other vehicles. The lights are in the infotainment screen. The wipers on the left stalk. Pull the right stalk to wash your windshield, and you will shift to neutral. It only took us a day to adapt, but why do we have to? Are all the other Acura vehicles somehow less good than this one? I prefer the “other” Acura controls layout.
OK, minor ergonomic gripes aside, the stuff on the center screen, driver information display, and head-up display are fantastic. Easy to use, intuitive, all the good adjectives apply. The center console is now my all-time favorite in any vehicle. A massive flat rubberized surface, two perfect cupholders, the best phone holder ever, and a great center storage area. Stop all future designs. This is set up absolutely perfectly!
The ZDX has a very good range. We observed a range display of 279 miles at 100% state of charge (SOC). Based on our driving in 35F weather at highway speeds, we think Acura is being conservative. Instead of exaggerating the range, it is underestimated. On many short trips we drove around town a bit and returned home still at 100% SOC. The ZDX we tested had a CCS-type charging port, not the soon-to-be universal NACS (Tesla-style). However, Acura says the ZDX is “NACS compatible.” That means it will work with an adapter. Our Emporia Level 2 charger worked great with the ZDX. Charging at home meant we always had a full range when starting out.
Acura says that the ZDX has a 102 kWh battery capacity and that it can charge on a DC fast charger from 20% SOC to 80% SOC in 42 minutes. Acura also says that you can input about 70 miles of range in 10 minutes on a DCFC (under ideal circumstances.) We tested this claim using a (claimed) 120kW-rated charger by ChargePoint near our home. In the first test, we began at 68% SOC and 191 miles of range indicated. We charged for just under 11 minutes and gained 15 miles of range and 5% SOC. It cost $5 for those 15 miles. A second time, we first preconditioned the battery using the easy-to-operate menus. We arrived with 60% SOC and 168 miles of range. After charging for ten minutes, we gained 23 miles of range and moved up to 68% SOC. As you can see, the DC fast charger dictates the speed of energy addition more than the vehicle. This is the most expensive way to power anything with four wheels, far more expensive than using liquid fuel in an MDX. By comparison to the energy management of the electric ZDX, consider that you can input 300 miles of range to an MDX or TLX in under two minutes at a liquid fuel pump.
The folks at Acura know tire repair kits are not a real solution. Spares are not a thing in most BEVs today, so Acura found a novel solution. They chose Michelin Primacy Selfseal tires. Check out our spotlight on these tires to see why we think this was a great move on Acura’s part.
2024 Acura ZDX Type S - Conclusion
The ZDX is fascinating. The bigness was interesting. It almost feels like Acura could make a 5/6ths scale version with a smaller, lighter battery, and it would be better compared to the more sporty TLX. It is very interesting that the MDX Type S is priced identically to the ZDX Type S. The ZDX gives an Acura shopper a BEV option right now. Given the high cost of electricity in Metro Boston (Above $0.32/kWh), and since my financial situation eliminates the federal tax incentive for me, I’d have to think hard about which $76K large Acura is the better bargain. I suspect that Acura may have some lease deals that make the ZDX an easy choice.
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John Goreham is a credentialed New England Motor Press Association member and expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE int). In addition to his eleven years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can connect with John on Linkedin and follow his work on our X channel. Please note that stories carrying John's by-line are never AI-generated, but he does employ Grammarly grammar and punctuation software when proofreading.
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