2025 Acura ZDX First Drive Review: First electric Acura or alternative Cadillac?

MONTECITO, Calif. ­– The 2025 Acura ZDX not only looks like an Acura, but it’s arguably one of the best-looking Acuras ever. If we’re talking SUVs, what’s going to topple it from the podium? The original ZDX? Beneath that skin, however, it’s no secret that the new ZDX rides on General Motors’ Ultium electric platform, has an interior constructed with General Motors parts, and is even built by General Motors in Tennessee. Ultimately, though, the most GM thing about the ZDX may be this overall assessment of it: This electric SUV provides more performance and features for the money than competitors, but the interior is a real letdown. Sure sounds like any performance Cadillac from the past two decades to me.

The trouble for the ZDX is that the competitor it most closely aligns with in terms of price, feature content and EV specs is literally a Cadillac … but things have changed. Specifically, the Cadillac Lyriq doesn’t suffer from that whole “interior is a real letdown” thing. Far from it, it’s a reason to buy a Lyriq. Furthermore, the two EVs not only share the same Ultium platform, but their motor offerings are basically the same with power outputs and ranges that closely align. It’s therefore impossible not to keep coming back to comparisons between the two. Even if the ZDX is a decent value, complete with its $7,500 federal tax credit, why get one instead of the more luxurious Lyriq? In short, it comes with even more features for the money, and boasts the sort of chassis upgrades and handling acumen Cadillac has moved away from with the Lyriq.  

So that’s where that comparison rests, and although I’ll get back into that whole “not really an Acura” angle, let’s take a closer look at the specs that more objectively let the new ZDX stack up well to vehicles that aren’t mechanically related. There are three versions of the ZDX, with no options apart from color and a summer-tire option. Starting at $65,850, including destination but not the federal tax credit, the base ZDX A-Spec becomes the only other rear-wheel-drive Acura besides the first NSX. It produces 358 horsepower and 324 pound-feet of torque, and achieves an EPA-estimated range of 313 miles from its