Leasing a new Acura EV is very much within reach, albeit soon. The performance brand of the reliable Japanese auto brand, Honda, has made known its plans to introduce an all-electric Acura SUV in the 2024 calendar year.
According to Automotive News, GM has already mapped out plans to manufacture Acura EV SUVs at its new facility in Spring Hill, Tennessee. Also, GM has partnered with LG Energy Solution to build an Ultium Cells facility in Spring Hill. The new facility, the new Ultium Cells factory in the US, will be inaugurated next year. The battery cells made at the facility will be used for all vehicles made at GM’s Spring Hill assembly plant. And as you might have guessed, the Acura electric SUVs are one of them.
While Take So Long?
If you’re surprised as to while this Japanese brand will take so long to jump on the bandwagon of EVs, the brand’s officer, Jon Ikeda, while speaking with Auto News, revealed that the wait was not out of the line, as the luxury brand of the Honda is focused on returning to its performance car roots before embracing electrification.
“For us as a brand, we needed to kind of refocus and re-establish ourselves as a performance brand,” said Ikeda. “We want everybody to understand where we are, what we’re about first. Even if we go electric, we will continue to be a performance division of Honda, and performance will be our focus.”
Over the years, through different hybrid cars, Acura has shown that hybrid technology, when well utilized, can boost performance and not hinder it. If and when they finally release their EVs, best believe that the EV will still retain the performance roots of the Acura.
What To Expect From The New Acura EVs
General Motors and Honda have already had reached an understanding towards developing Honda EVs using the GM global EV platform. As such, all Honda-Acura EVs are expected to come with the GM’s Ultium Lithium-ion batteries and Ultium Drive electric motors. However, Honda-Acura has made it clear that besides that, every other thing about its EVs is ‘uniquely Acura.’
The all-electric Acura SUV could have a bigger dimension than the GM’s Lyriq. It could also serve as a BEV alternative to the MDX. We expect this all-electric SUV from Acura to offer slightly above 300-350 miles range, with an available dual-motor AWD setup and battery pack options between 70 kWh and 90 kWh capacity.
The Honda-Acura Way
Honda targets its EVs and FCEVs to hit 40% of annual sales in North America by 2030. It also plans to increase this figure to 80% by 2035 before converting its whole lineup to EVs and FCEVs by the end of 2040. This Japanese brand plans to build all its EVs on its new EV platform, ‘e: Architecture.
While this may take some time, it’s not a big wait for the brand’s loyalist. But if you want something equally eco-friendly to lease from the Honda-Acura brand, you might as well consider leasing any of the new hybrid cars from the brand.
Reach out to us at VIP Auto, 1204 Hylan Blvd, Staten Island, NY 10305 https://viplease.com/, and get the best lease deals on all Acura cars, including hybrid vehicles.
