I think the release of the Mustang EV and the Rav4 PHEV shows Acura should consider EV and PHEV trims soon. The new Rav4 PHEV is going to have over 300HP.

Just a thought.

 

Yeah, mainstream brands are all inching towards 300hp. Premium and luxury brands are going to look a bit silly when something like the RDX 2.0T is going to get spanked, or at the very least, perform on par with the RAV4 Prime. And RAV4 will do it while sipping less fuel.

Edit: It's not like Acura is unfamiliar with electrification. They need to push Sport Hybrid to every product in their portfolio whilst working on EV and PHEV.

 

I agree, but the current MDX Sport Hybrid doesn't allow ANY towing. For some potential purchasers of an SUV that will be a deal breaker, myself included.

Toyota seems to have figured it out, so what's up with Acura?

 

The electric motors will fill in the low end torque lag at launch quite nicely. The brother wavshrdr should get his 2.0 second 60 foot times that way.

 

Electric components are very much software dependent. I am not eagerly looking forward to application of Acura’s software chops.

 

They just announced a CR-V hybrid but doesn't start shipping till next year.
The RDX desperately needs a hybrid version. MPG is really bad. I feel guilty driving it.
The new Lexus UX hybrid, while a tad smaller and a lot slower than the RDX, clocks in at almost 40 mpg. 30 mpg in an RDX for both city and hwy would leave me feeling pretty good about things.

 

I never even considered a PHEV until I bought my T8....So much nicer charging your car at home, hard to beat the smoothness when ones on battery as well.

 

I originally purchased my 19 MDX sport hybrid because it was the closest thing to a Type-S MDX with the upgraded in suspension and performance. The added benefit of always getting 25-27 mpgs in bumper-to-bumper city driving or 75-80 mph hwy with a 475-500 mile range was just a bonus. After living with the MDX hybrid, I will probably never go back to 100% ICE engines again. Acura really needs to add this option to the entire line-up. I don't see why Acura couldn't increase the battery capacity with plug-in option for hybrid version to maximize EV mode (only 8 miles to work). I'm actually looking to give up my 11 MDX Adv/Ent and replace with a +18 RLX hybrid. I travel too much at +20,000 miles per year for pure electric vehicle; but, sign me up for the next gen Acura hybrid w/ or w/o plug-in option.

 

Electric cars must have OTA updates. Acura hasn’t got that really figured out yet.

 

Only if they insist on piling in "self driving" features that are nowhere near ready for prime time. ( And probably won't be within our lifetimes ).

And you're damn right that's a shot at Tesla and the megalomaniac running it.

 

Why is that a must?

 

Every other manufacture is doing it, and there are always software updates that come out to help improve performance, range, convenience, etc. Not doing it would put your offering at a huge disadvantage compared to the competitors.

 

Our nav has never been updated, a year and a half in, despite the promised ‘quarterly’ or ‘yearly’ updates described in official communications. In an electric car, one expects the car to be able to identify charging places. It can’t be two years behind.

That is just one thing. As fiatlux mentions, above, EVs are the modern connected cars. If one manufacturer basically doesn’t keep up with the technology, they fail. Should they mail you a batch of 5 1/4 inch floppies to make updates with?