Acura is neither the flashest nor Ritziest luxury automotive brand in the area, but the Premium Division of Honda is still building Rock-Solid products that are generally very pleasant to drive. Acura moves ahead to the future and slowly elimates its portfolio, a strategic shift led by the ZDX battery-driven Utility vehicle, although this is not the only EV ACURA that will introduce.
Meet the new RSX prototype
In anticipation of Monterey Car Week, where the vehicle will make its official debut, the performance-oriented luxury brand just teased its new RSX prototype. Little has been shared about this fully electric utility vehicle and Acura has only released one shady teaser photo of the front-end, but what we know about the RSX prototype is that this design study was inspired by the Acura Performance EV concept vehicle that debuted on the Auto-Week last year.
Apart from that, the automaker has confirmed that this will be the very first product based on the new EV platform from Honda, an architecture for electric vehicles developed by the Japanese car maker in the house. A clone of the Honda Proologist, the ZDX is based on the Ultium technology of GM and is essentially a rebelled version of the Cadillac Lyriq and Chevrolet Blazer EV. The new RSX marks a radical shift in sharing technology with GM.
What can we see?
If we study the delivered image, we can see that this vehicle has a pointed front, just like the Performance EV concept. The headlights are extremely thin, almost crack-like and the Acura logo at the forefront of the vehicle is illuminated.
Moving a little further down, we can see that this design study has some darkened elements on the front fascia and a few hard lines that indicate the centrally mounted Acura emblem. On the side of each of those lines is a kind of gill -like opening that can accommodate the fog lights.
In general, the front of this SUV seems very similar to the face of the Performance EV concept, although the headlights seem even narrower, and there is no illuminated Twin-Line accent (it looks like a pause button) on the lower fascia. These two vehicles can also be painted the same color, a lively white, although we cannot see it for sure.
The new ASIMO OS is being launched here
The production version of this vehicle will also be the first with the new ASIMO OS from Honda, its own operating system that was unveiled in the stylish, fully electric 0-series Salon and SUV concepts that debuted in CES in January.
ASIMO OS is named after the humanoid robot of the automaker and is a software platform that “Integrated Electronic Control Units (ECUs) will apply for vehicle systems such as automated rows of rows/advanced drivers aid systems (AD/ADAS) and Infotainment (IVI) system Intuzer.” It is not surprising that this technology also supports handy over-the-Air software updates to add new functions and services as time passes, and even to solve any problems that can pop up.
Tribute or shame?
The original Acura RSX was a premium, performance-oriented three-door hatchback that was launched in the early 2000s. With trim dimensions, buttery-good manual transmissions and high-wrapped naturally sealed four-cylinder engines, this compact car was an explosion to drive.
The application of the famous RSX name to a fully electric SUV is likely to be considered a sacrilege by Acura Diehards, although Ford did exactly the same with his Mustang Mach-E, and the Brouhaha seems to be extinct about that decision. The vast majority of the vehicle shoppers nowadays probably have no idea what an RSX is even, so every fall -out of this movement will probably be small.
Will come next year
The production version of the RSX prototype is planned to arrive at Acura dealers in the second half of 2026. This fully electric utility vehicle will be assembled on Honda’s new EV-hub in Ohio.
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