The Acura ZDX and Honda Prologue, two electric utility vehicles birthed from General Motors’ BEV3 platform, recently faced scrutiny from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
Despite their technical similarities and shared GM underpinnings, both models fell short of the coveted Top Safety Pick awards due to a less than stellar performance in the small overlap front crash test.
While the ZDX and Prologue aced the side impact and moderate overlap front crash tests, the IIHS raised concerns about the passenger side small overlap test.
Dummy kinematics revealed potential head contact with the A-pillar, as the frontal and side curtain airbags failed to fully protect the occupant. This led to a marginal rating for front passenger restraints and dummy kinematics.
The IIHS also assessed the vehicles’ front crash prevention systems, rating them acceptable in vehicle-to-pedestrian scenarios. Headlight performance varied between the two models. The Prologue’s projector-style LED headlights suffered from glare and inadequate high-beam visibility on the left side of the road.
The ZDX, on the other hand, earned a poor rating for excessive low-beam glare in models produced before September 2024. Both the ZDX and Prologue are manufactured in North America, with the ZDX hailing from Tennessee and the Prologue assembled in Mexico.
Despite their shared platform, the ZDX offers a slightly longer wheelbase and greater driving range, thanks to its larger 102 kWh battery pack compared to the Prologue’s 85 kWh unit. The Prologue, however, starts at a lower price point, with the base EX 2WD model priced at $47,400.
