- It’s happening once again! Acura’s reviving a beloved nameplate, RSX, to stick on an EV crossover
- It’s already in prototype-testing, and styling seems inspired by last year’s Performance EV Concept
- The machine is set to be built in Ohio, possibly as soon as the end of this year
Acura announced today it’s desecrating another grave slapping its classic “RSX” nameplate onto an upcoming all-electric crossover. Said to be based heavily on the so-called Performance EV Concept we saw last year at Monterey Car Week in Pebble Beach, the machine will be the brand’s first EV produced at Honda EV Hub, located in Ohio.
“The return of the iconic Acura RSX nameplate is a tribute to its past,” said James Marchand, Assistant Vice President, Acura Canada. It is at this point your author would normally include other parts of the needlessly verbose marketing bumpf, but I have to admit I’m too distressed to do so.
This vehicle will be the second battery-electric crossover for the brand, following the ZDX, which is debuting for the 2025 model year. The white rig shown in this photo gallery is the concept vehicle, while the model wrapped in blue-grey camouflage is a prototype model of the actual production car.
Close examination of the latter shows it to be riding on 20-inch Michelin e-Primacy all-season tires, a detail which instantly skewers any points about how this is a performance machine; sure, that’s a great tire, but far better options exist for gummy traction, even on an EV. Red brake calipers peek through the (front) wheels.
An apparent lack of rear window wiper will also eventually anger anyone who buys this thing (just ask early adopters of the generally excellent Hyundai Ioniq 5) but is sure to please bean-counters and committee-led decision-making. Flush door handles are an industry standard, though there seems to be enough visual interest provided by that unique slash in the forward part of the driver’s door, a detail also found on the Performance EV Concept.
Given statements made during the concept’s debut last year, we should expect an official launch of this car sometime in the 2025 calendar year.
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