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Acura MDX teaser photos show an upscale interior

After teasing us with an exterior image of the fourth-generation Acura MDX a week ago, Acura has now followed up with images of the interior. The exterior teaser was done up in "Tron" style, but these interior shots go beyond outlines to reveal some details that are much less obscured. Acura promises the MDX will be the "most premium and performance-focused" version of the SUV yet and has earned "elevated status" as the brand's flagship. (Only about 1,000 of the RLX were sold in North America last year, vs. 52,000 of the MDX, so it seems the big sedan got demoted as flagship. Aw.) The MDX's instrument panel is lower and wider, Acura says, and the interior is trimmed out in real open-pore wood. The leather dash is "hand-wrapped" with French seams. All three rows of seating surfaces are quilted, with perforations done in a gradated design, and there is contrasting piping and stitching. Massaging front seats add to the premium experience. Acura promises a variety of new technologies in the cabin, including what it calls the Acura Precision Cockpit, along with a mighty wide-looking HD infotainment screen and Acura's dynamic ELS Studio 3D sound system with 25 speakers. (Where do they put them all?) After Acura did great things with the RDX and the new 2021 TLX, we expect the MDX redesign will follow suit in reinvigorating the brand. The MDX will likely offer the same engines as in the TLX: a 272-horsepower turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder as the base engine, and a 355-horsepower turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 engine as an option. But we should know more about all of the above when the prototype Acura MDX — albeit a very-near-production prototype — will be revealed next Wednesday, Oct. 14.  Related Video:

Honda, Acura EVs will adopt Tesla's NACS charging port

CARMEL, Calif. — As more and more automakers pledge to install TeslaÂ’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) ports on their electric vehicles, Honda says that it, too, will hop on the bandwagon. Future EVs from Honda – as well as its luxury division, Acura – will have NACS charging setups, giving these cars access to TeslaÂ’s huge network of Supercharger stations. "It is quite important," American Honda Motor Co. President and CEO Noriya Kaihara said in an interview Friday. "We also have to push NACS, as well. It is clear." As for when this will happen, Honda is currently at the mercy of General Motors. The Japanese automakerÂ’s next two EVs – the Honda Prologue and Acura ZDX – use shared architecture with GM, leveraging The GeneralÂ’s excellent Ultium battery technology. The ZDX will launch first, and have the traditional CCS port that isnÂ’t compatible with TeslaÂ’s chargers, but it will switch to the NACS design in 2025 or 2026. "We clearly depend on GM," Shinji Aoyama, Executive Vice President of Honda Motor Co., said during Friday's interview. "Once they [switch to NACS], this will follow for ZDX, as well." Looking to the future, Honda is part of a joint venture with seven other global automakers that will see the installation of more than 30,000 EV fast-charging stations across the United States and Canada. The chargers are still in development, but Honda says the companies are all aligned on the core values that are needed to make this charging network successful.  "The software needs to be really reliable and really open infrastructure so it communicates with every OEM's software," Jay Joseph, American Honda's Vice President of Sustainability and Business Development, said in Friday's interview. "The hardware needs to be capable of the highest levels of charging. It needs to be secure, it needs to be reliable, it needs to be accessible." Joseph said the current public charging companies know and understand the shortcomings with their systems, and that TeslaÂ’s Superchargers set an example of how to do chargers right. "If you look at what's so great about the Tesla Supercharger network, it's the maintenance," Joseph said. "They stay on top of it, they've got someone onsite monitoring the equipment, they're monitoring it electronically and remotely, and they fix it – fast. That's probably the most important thing." All the more reason for Honda – and other automakers – to switch to the NACS charging setup as quickly as possible.

2023 Acura Integra production begins in Ohio

Acura has launched production of the 2023 Integra. The sedan is built in Marysville, Ohio, meaning it's made in America for the first time. Carmakers launch production of new models on a regular basis, it's what keeps our industry going, but Acura explained that preparing the Marysville plant and its staff to build the Integra was easier said than done. While the hatchback was unveiled online in March 2022, preparations started much earlier, and Acura had to juggle various COVID-related setbacks and restrictions in order to meet its deadline. The company explained that its production team relied on video-conference tools set up in the plant to stream trial production live, for example. They made design changes remotely, and Acura went as far as setting up a virtual teaching system to train its workers. Everything went according to plan, and the born-again Integra has started rolling off the line. It's built on the same assembly line as the bigger TLX. Acura dealers across the nation will begin receiving the 2023 Integra in June 2022. Pricing starts at $31,895 including a $1,095 destination charge. Interestingly, the base model and the mid-range A-Spec trim are exclusively offered with a continuously variable transmission (CVT); the only way to get a six-speed manual transmission is to select the range-topping A-Spec with Technology Package trim priced at $36,895. Regardless of trim, power comes from a 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine rated at 200 horsepower and 192 pound-feet of torque. Related video: