Acura’s flagship car may be a hybrid supercar, but Acura is now looking to the future with battery-electric cars in its lineup.
Emile Korkor was the assistant vice president for Acura National Sales. He spoke to us in an interview. Automotive News(Subscription required). Monday’s publication stated that Acura will lead the transition to EVs, not Honda parent company.
“We’re going to bypass hybrids altogether,” he said. “So our shift is going very rapidly into BEV. This is our primary focus.
Acura’s 2024 model-year launch of an electric crossover will mark the beginning of the transition. It will be constructed by General Motors using the Ultium platform, which is also used in the 2022 GMC Hummer EV (GMC) and the 2023 Cadillac Lyriq (2023 Cadillac Lyriq). Honda will release an electric crossover in 2024. It will be made by GM using the Ultium platform. Honda’s Prologue is the name of the crossover and it will likely be smaller than Acura.
General Motors BEV3 platform, and Ultium batteries
Acura and Honda EVs eventually will switch to Honda’s e:Architecture EV platform. The platform will be used to launch models in the second half the decade.
Acura, however, will stop launching new hybrids in conjunction with the EVs that Honda is already releasing. With the introduction of the 2022 MDX, which is a new model, we have already witnessed it begin to eliminate hybrids.
Acura’s NSX supercar is ending after 2022, but Acura boss Jon Ikeda hinted at an electric replacement.
Korkor told Automotive News that EVs were a perfect fit for Acura’s current focus on performance. He said that EVs would account for upwards of 60% of Acura’s sales in 2030, compared to Honda’s 40%.
