Honda says Acura RSX will be first original electric vehicle with Asimo operating system

Honda has announced that its first original electric vehicle – that is, an electric vehicle built on its own platform and not based on another automaker’s technology, such as the Honda Prologue – will be the Acura RSX , scheduled for release in 2026.

Honda’s two battery electric vehicles in the United States, the Honda Prologue and Acura ZDX, are both based on General Motors’ Ultium vehicle platform. The Prologue, in particular, was one of Honda’s early successes, outperforming its sister vehicles, the Chevy Blazer and Equinox EV.

But now Honda is ready to start working on its own technology. The RSX will also be the first electric vehicle to be built at Honda’s new Ohio plant, where production is expected to begin in late 2025. The $4.4 billion plant is a joint venture between Honda and LG Chem, the manufacturer Korean batteries.

Honda is resurrecting the RSX badge that it first used in the early 2000s as the Honda Integra version of its performance brand. This follows Honda’s decision to also bring back the Prelude as a two-door sport hybrid.

“In the RSX, we’re looking to an Acura nameplate that communicates fun-to-drive performance, a great name for a sporty SUV with a coupe silhouette for our first original Acura EV,” said Lance Woelfer, vice president of automobile sales at American Honda Motor Co.

The RSX will also be Honda’s first vehicle to feature its in-house developed Asimo operating system. At CES, Honda said Asimo would be the company’s first effort to design a software-defined vehicle, in which updatable software controls the vehicle’s primary functions. The operating system is named after Honda’s humanoid robot Asimo, which retired in 2018. Asimo will also underpin the automaker’s new Honda Zero vehicles, the first being the Honda 0 SUV.

“So it turns out that Acura is once again at the tip of the spear of electrification and our digital future,” said Jessica Fini, Honda assistant vice president of communications.