d_matt_ma

Hi everyone,

Long time reader and first tike poster. With Acura saying they will skip hybrids and go straight to electric, does it mean we won’t get a Type-S for the RDX using the v6? The original speculation was that they would wait for the new CRV to come out and then update the RDX to better accommodate the drive train.

But assuming that’s now scrapped, are they going to pull an ILX on us and keep this RDX platform around longer and simply cram the type s treatment into it? I don’t see how they can fit the turbo in the current bay without maybe moving the battery to the back. Just speculation on my side.

jmhumr

Wouldn't the next RDX just be electric? There's no need to rename the car.

I'm a V6 skeptic. At this point, I think folks would be better off wishing for Acura to issue Type S variants of their electric cars, similar to how Tesla offers performance versions.

d_matt_ma

I don’t want another electric in the garage. One is enough. I want something with an exhaust note. And if Acura goes all electric… they may as well just close shop. They aren’t beating the competition at this point. They are too far behind and should make a move when they are ready with their own platform, which won’t arrive for at least another 5 years

Type X

My prediction is that they will do what they did mid 5th gen crv
5th gen will be 2025-2028 then on the mid cycle refesh launch an electric E-Rdx Then carry that motor to the next gen & by then be fully electrix lineup

Too soon to tell but with the prologue and other things coming im sure they’ll have a few options of powerplants

jmhumr

Understand, but the page is already turning on exhaust notes. Even Porsche is going all-electric.

As for platforms, something to consider is that most EV platforms aren't going to have the brand character that ICE platforms have. They're relatively soul-less. That's part of why we're seeing some unprecedented collaboration across brands when it comes to EVs - there's no need for each company to reinvent the wheel. So I don't really consider Acura behind the competition - seems like they're just waiting for a wave to ride on.

ESHBG

Acura is going all electric and it looks like ADX may be the name of one of the models. I feel as if Acura will need to do a full reinvention at this point so I it will be interesting to see what the future will bring.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a3...suv-trademark/

Dereileak

Give me fast as hell charging and long range I’ll take electric happily, an all electric RDX would be awesome, they could be more leader in what’s coming in the future if they move to electric now, as much as I like exhaust notes, everything is going to go electric in not so much time

anoop

Honda doesn't seem to have its electric strategy figured out yet. It seems like they think the electrification fad may pass. IMO, skipping hybrid is the wrong strategy. I think Volvo has it right with going mild hybrid/hybrid/electric on all vehicles. I don't think electrification will go as fast as most people think. Too many issues including grid readiness and sourcing of batteries, not to mention what to do with battery waste and the cost of replacing batteries in old cars. Once the novelty of owning an electric wears off, suddenly all the negatives will become much more apparent.

NooYawkuh

I prefer the smell of gasoline to ozone or burning flesh (especially my own).

hans471

I would not be betting too much on the "fleet" being all electric anytime soon. Yes, Honda (Acura) should have full EV's soon. They have a joint development project with General Motors with vehicles originally planned for the 2024 time frame. That schedule could have slipped however. The agreements are "non-binding" and subject to change. It seems GM has excess production capacity in the US and could build Honda branded (and designed) vehicles in those plants. GM seems more content to put their engineering efforts into their trucks and SUV's, a market that is much more profitable for them. Many experts in the business and automotive world feel that joint projects like this are likely the future of the automotive industry as development expenses rise while markets shrink. Also I think GM sees the writing on the wall like Ford did. Ford openly stated it will not be developing any new cars and will instead concentrate on their truck/SUV lines. American car companies have long lost their love for building low profit small cars.

If you follow the industry you will learn about the development of "Fuel forges". There is some serious engineering work, and billions of dollars, being invested in the production of "Net Zero" fuels. The concept is, in simple terms, duplicating natures own photosynthesis by taking CO2, water, and solar power (sunlight or other clean electrical sources) and making "perfect" engineered hydrocarbon fuels with out the impurities found in fossil fuels. After they burn the CO2 is "recycled" back into new fuel with the "fuel forge" leaning no CO2 behind. American Airlines and others are investing in this effort as electrically powered airliners are a pie-in-the-sky dream in the foreseeable future.

The future is not set in stone regardless of what some keep yelling.

sonyfever

Personally, I think Acura going all EVs bodes well for the approval of 3G RDX Type-S. This platform is a solid foundation, so Acura could do a Macan and stretch the lifespan of 3G by a year or two until the in-house EV platform is ready in 2025. Having Type-S midway would increase margin for this platform as well as maintain sales. I also assume the bean counters will be happy to spread the cost of the death-on-arrival J30AC.

d_matt_ma

That's what I'm hoping for. But I'm worried they will just go straight to electric and completely scrap the J30AC. That engine is good. It just needs a good home, and the RDX is the best home for it.

russianDude

If I need EV, I will buy Tesla. I dont want Acura to start designing EVs and learn how to do it. I also prefer gas.

Texasrdx21

As much as I love ICE engines and the smell of a two stroke motorcycle, Europe, US and Canada are moving fast in terms of regulation to go EV. Acura and Honda need to embrace the new wave, or be a blockbuster of the past. Look at all the money our federal government through out it with the last trillion dollar bill. Now they are increasing EPA standards drastically, we are not energy independent and the charging grid is increasing a lot.

bbstenor

Well, this is all fine and dandy for the environment, but I live in a suburban condo with no garage, a large parking lot separated from the buildings by nice wide grassy areas, and a condo association that is woefully underfunded for normal maintenance, never mind installing any charging stations. I’m going to need ICE (or possibly non-plug-in hybrid) for the foreseeable future…

d_matt_ma

My wife's car is a model 3 and we both love it. The reason I'm insisting on gas is that every time we've taken her car on a road trip, charging has been a huge hassle. Those issues never were an issue for my gas C43. We now have a baby on the way and I can't afford the MB cars I want (e-450 all terrain / GLC 63). A Type-S RDX would be a perfect fit for me in 2 years if Acura would just make it. I prefer SH-AWD over rear-biased AWD for SUVs since I really shouldn't be doing "those things" with a baby in the car, and I don't trust long term MPGs on turbo 4 SUVs.

flames9

Thats why I love my T8....best of both worlds, and for me, the 20 mile battery is just fine as work is 5 miles away..most errands are within20 miles,,,,,,Just made a 450 mile trip to Rhode island with still 1/4 tank of gas...Don't have to worry about charging stations on the way!! But I guess thats not what the future holds......but it will be many yrs before everything is electric.....I think if one had a battery that could go 200 miles and a 18 gallon gas tank, you would be very happy!! As it is now, I rarely vist the gas stations and that with a wussy 20 mile battery.

supafamous

Honda is late to the party on electric so their strategy looks real messy right now - getting GM to build their first real EVs was a response to the fact they are so far behind on EV tech and just needed something on the market.

As Acura is a North American brand I think it'll be amongst the slowest to go EV as EV is least popular in North America despite all the pressure towards it. I suspect, as some have said, a heavily updated 3G RDX will come to light that comes in as a 2025 model year car which gives Acura enough time to transition to an in-house produced EV 4G RDX in 2029-2030. The GM produced SUV fills the gap until then while Honda focuses on EVs for their mainstream lineup.

Showkey

Guessing some need to look at HONDA history:

1. First to sell a hybrid. Insight
2. First to sell ( lease) aHydrogen fuel cell vehicle.
3. First to sell a production Nat gas vehicle. Civic

EV is in its Infancy and will be a long time to be main stream.
Plug in EV hybrid might be the answer to range anxiety , charge time and long distance driving.

Infancy because no one has figured out how to charge all those “city dwellers” with no parking, no garage, park on the street vehicles.

anoop

I had always thought Toyota was first, but now that I look it up, I remember the first Insight.

JB in AZ

Might have been first, but was not a real "car" The seats, IIRC were like folding beach chairs, and it didn't sell in anywhere the numbers that the Prius did.

anoop

I thought it was supposed to be the spiritual successor of the CRX. The pic of the seats look OK to me, although never tried them in person.

JB in AZ

I goofed up and edited your QUOTE, (rather than my post) when I added "by seven months" Sorry. But that is how far ahead to market Honda was with the Insight over the Prius.

Texasrdx21

1st to market means zippo, if you don’t evolve and keep building on it. Blackberry had the 1st sort of smart phone and dominated for a long time…they are a ghost now.

May have been infancy last few years, but you don’t and won’t need charging stations for city dwellers at every corner. With ranges increasing, nd charging stations growing like weeds (especially with all the mo ey the fed is throwing at it), it will ramp quickly in a few years. You don’t have gas pumps at every corner or on the streets for city dwellers.

The true infancy right now is getting the price down on entry to mid chiles for the average consumer. Not everyone can afford a $50k-$80k new EV.

I agree hybrid would of been a great stepping stone to get there, but that’s not what the government is mandating at this time.

hans471

Governments change, especially when they push agenda past what the technology and market will bear. It was too many years back that the government assured us all the future was bright and it was clean burning Hydrogen! (And yes, Honda and others built working hydrogen powered vehicles that you could lease...if you lived in the right area...you know, one with dependable sunshine to power your home hydrogen maker. (look it up...).
If the US went to 100% electrical fleet in five years the electrical grid would crash. Brownouts would be the standard operating mode. There will always be changes but they may not happen as quickly as some think. I taught classes in this area where students had to do a lot of infrastructure research. Many were shocked when they started digging deeper into this subject. Its not so simple.

anoop

This movie is worth a watch (the whole movie, but starting at 36:54 in particular for what it takes to build EVs.

Google was big on developing solar on their own until I think they hit the metaphorical brick wall, quietly abandoned their activity, and instead started purchasing carbon credits and declaring themselves carbon neutral. In other words, it's cheaper to pay to pollute (who sets the price?) than to actually come up with a solution to stop polluting. EVs just move the pollution problem elsewhere.

NooYawkuh

I wonder how those people with EVs did in that 24+ hour traffic jam in a Virginia snowstorm.

We're not the First World anymore.

Texasrdx21

Probably not any similar than a gas car, which can last for 33 hours of idlingpossible on a full tank (in perfect conditions, not super cold or a large SUV. An EV car idling (on mode) can use 2-3 kWh an hour (battery size 60-80 kWh), so would be similar if full and idle conditions.

NooYawkuh

Source?

flames9

https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/thre...traffic.39995/ the bigger issue may be finding a charging stn, but prob not that difficult to pull off and find a place

Texasrdx21

You asked, and I delivered.

https://www.driving.co.uk/news/elect...w-test-answer/

https://www.autotrader.ca/newsfeatur...a-tank-of-gas/

Rocket_man

And another article/video...
I live in Houston and evacuation traffic can be horrendous. I was part of the evacuation nightmare for Hurricane Rita way back in 2005. Roads were backup up for over 100 miles. Many cars ran out of gas and further blocked the evacuation routes. My wife and I took back roads all the way to Dallas. It only took us about 7 hours. Could not find gas anywhere along the route until we got very close to Dallas. Anyway, I think the traffic jam would not be much different to an ICE car or an EV... both depending on how much gas or charge you had at the start of the event. But, if your EV ran out of juice and could not move, it would need a tow. An ICE car would only need a few gallons of gas to get it out of there. Some ICE engines though would not be very happy to be run dry of gasoline.

d_matt_ma

After seeing them move the battery for MDX to the trunk for the Type S, I think that gives hope to the idea that an RDX type S worth the V6 is possible. There’s so much spice back there they can find a spot and make it happen.

I do agree that they will extend this generation longer until they have a platform that is full electric.

supafamous

Well, Acura did say that engine bay of the RDX was designed to accept a V6 when it launched. I suspect it's not happening solely because of development resources - the MDX, TLX, and Integra took priority and now we're so close to the 4G (or 3G+) that it's not worth it.

alpha0

May be that was in context of using V6 J35 and batteries as in MDX sport hybrid.

boyce89976

Porsche has one all-electric vehicle and two hybrid models currently (Panamera and Cayenne). For the foreseeable future the 911 and 718 will continue to implement fossil fuels with a hybrid option potentially with the next redesign. The Macan may have a hybrid option at the next redesign. Hardly "all-electric".

boyce89976

So true. But there's a LOT of money to be made pushing the can down the road.

anoop

Almost everything I have read says next macan will be electric only.

supafamous

Yep, they refreshed the current one to extend its life a few more years but that's the last ICE Macan. The next one will be sold alongside the ICE Macan - I keep hearing 2023 on sale date. Dealers are already taking deposits and I bet it sells like crazy for Porsche.