New Acura ZDX will feature enhanced Google connectivity

The Acura 2024 ZDX—an old name but a brand-new vehicle—is the first EV from Acura, and while details remain slim, Acura has said that it will feature the brand’s first integration of Google built-in connectivity when it arrives in early 2024.

Available on all ZDX trims, apps like Google Assistant, Google Maps, and Google Play will “help deliver a connected, personalized, and more streamlined driving experience.”

“As Acura moves rapidly toward the electrified and digital future we’re pleased to offer customers a choice of technology partners by combining embedded Google apps and services with our in-vehicle connectivity to advance the fun and productive ownership experience,” said Raj Manakkal, assistant vice president of Digital Services Development for American Honda. “Starting with the Acura ZDX and ZDX Type S, we will take class-leading connectivity solutions to the next level by integrating features with Google built-in into future Acura products.”

An enhanced version of Google Maps will offer Acura ZDX drivers optimized route planning for recharging. Google Maps can also estimate the charging time required to reach the destination and can “initiate preconditioning of the EV battery when the destination is a DC Fast charging station. Battery preconditioning can reduce charge times, getting customers back on the road quickly.”

Drivers can control their media by asking Google Assistant to skip to the next track or rewind a podcast using the driver’s favorite media apps. Google Play enables users to download various third-party apps for music, podcasts, audiobooks, and more.

Acura “will serve as the tip of the spear for digitalization at American Honda, with 100 percent of Acura EV sales taking place online, starting in early 2024 with the ZDX and sportier ZDX Type S.

The ZDX will be the first production model to feature many of the styling themes of the new Acura design direction introduced during the last Monterey Car Week in the form of the Acura Precision EV Concept. Like the Honda Prologue, with which the ZDX will share some components, it is being co-developed with GM utilizing its global EV platform, and powered by Ultium batteries. Acura then will launch additional EV models starting in 2026 based on the company’s own global e:Architecture.

“The Acura ZDX represents the start to what will be an accelerated path toward electrification by the end of the decade and the key role the Acura brand will play in our company’s global goal to achieve carbon neutrality in 2050,” said Emile Korkor, assistant vice president of Acura National Sales. “Acura will remain focused on performance in the electrified era and Type S will continue to represent the pinnacle of this direction.”

The ZDX will be Acura’s first zero-emissions SUV, and the name pays homage to a previous Acura model of the same name, which was the first vehicle styled from the ground up in the Acura Design Studio which opened in Los Angeles in 2007. The new ZDX is was styled in the same Acura Design Studio.

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