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https://www.barrons.com/articles/acuras-precision-ev-concept-points-to-the-companys-battery-future-01663272231
The Acura Precision EV Concept, which made its global debut during California’s Monterey Car Week in August, is the brand’s third design concept since 2016 and previews the exterior and interior design of the ZDX, its first electric car, an SUV that goes on sale in the U.S. in 2024.
The Precision, in a matte-finish Double Apex Blue, is an audaciously styled crossover SUV that was inspired, the company said, by luxury Italian power boats. The nose uses what Acura calls “Particle Glitch” lighting as an integral part of both the front and rear design. Where the grille would be on a gas car is basically a mesh-style triangular light display, and there’s more decorative lighting above the front bumper. This is part of the trend to at least simulate a grille, though they’re not functional on electric cars.
To discuss its future direction, Acura held a roundtable discussion in Manhattan last month. Answering journalists’ questions were Dave Marek, executive creative director; Jon Ikeda, Acura brand officer; and Emile Korkor, assistant vice president for Acura national sales.
Korkor said that the Precision is Acura’s “North Star” for electrification, and its design language will translate to production models. The MDX-sized ZDX will be built on the same platform as the electric Cadillac Lyriq, but Acura’s team said the entirety of the design will be done in-house at the company’s Los Angeles studio. “The baseline is Cadillac, but everything built on top of that is Acura,” Korkor said.
“We have had to evolve our electrification strategy on a faster-than-expected timetable, and wanted to do it without sacrificing style,” Marek said. “Electrification gave us an opportunity to add playful touches and to manipulate where the wheels sit—it’s freeing for automakers.” Ikeda noted, “Back when luxury cars had 12- or 16-cylinder engines, the rule was the longer the hood, the more expensive the car. But now, engines are going away. It’s certainly an interesting time to be an auto designer.”
For now, most EVs (including the Precision) have recognizable “hoods,” but they mostly open to reveal a storage “frunk” rather than a motor.
That faux grille and the lights below turn on sequentially to greet the owner. “It was an opportunity to do some kind of entertainment,” Marek said. The Precision looks to the future, saying goodbye to both exterior door handles and rear-view mirrors. Marek said the industry is moving away from both, and the Precision’s design is “a stepping stone” to that future. Rear-view mirrors or cameras on the ZDX? It depends on regulations.
Another aspect of the Precision that could prove controversial is its two-grip yoke-style steering wheel, derived from Formula One practice. The design aids visibility, but adapted into the Tesla Model S Plaid Edition it has drawn brickbats for, among other things, making hard cornering a challenge. The ZDX may well abandon the yoke.
The interior of the Precision features a sustainability theme—the marbled plastic trim is recycled, as is the aluminum, and the seats use 100 percent biomass leather. The wood is from responsibly managed forests. The interior adapts to its usage—Instinctive Drive mode brings up racing-type digital instrumentation and turns on the red ambient lighting. Spiritual Lounge turns the car into a chill-out zone, retracting the steering wheel, activating soothing scents, and projecting relaxing “underwater” animation.
Honda is aiming for carbon neutrality by 2050. Korkor outlined steps along the road to electrification, including a battery partnership with General Motors’ Ultium that begins in 2024. Honda will produce two larger EVs for the U.S. market that model year, using the Ultium batteries. The companies have also said they would work together on co-developed affordable EVs, based on a new global architecture, to appear by 2027.
Honda has a multi-front strategy: The company also said August 29 that it would enter into a joint venture with LG Energy Solution to build a US$4.4 billion battery plant in the U.S. The plant would have the capacity to produce 400,000 100-kilowatt-hour battery packs annually when completed in 2025.
“After that, solid-state batteries [without liquid electrolyte] will be the end game for us,” Korkor said.
The Acura Precision EV Concept, which made its global debut during California’s Monterey Car Week in August, is the brand’s third design concept since 2016 and previews the exterior and interior design of the ZDX, its first electric car, an SUV that goes on sale in the U.
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