If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.
Never have the words rung truer than with Aston Martin’s announcement that it will be powering its future electric vehicles with technology from California EV maker Lucid.
In fact, Aston is promising to launch its first fully-electric EV by 2025 and expect it to be a doosy — anything less would be a waste of time.
Until now, the British sports car maker, renowned as 007’s car of choice, has been somewhat tardy about joining the electric revolution — but that’s all about to change.
The company says an agreement with the Lucid Group will help propel Aston Martin’s high-performance electrification strategy and its long-term growth, as part of its wider Racing. Green. sustainability strategy.
It will see an investment of more than £2 billion in advanced technologies over the next five years, as the company switches from internal combustion to battery-electric power for its vehicles.
Access to Lucid’s current and future powertrain and battery technology will be at the centre of Aston Martin’s all-new in-house Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) platform.
We’re talking 800kW+ and four-wheel torque vectoring. Lucid’s soon-to-be-released tri-motor Air Sapphire boasts an astounding 895kW.
Lucid’s Wunderbox charge tech can add 483km driving range in as little as 20 minutes.
Chief exec, Lawrence Stroll, said the supply agreement with Lucid is a game changer for the future EV-led growth of Aston Martin.
“Based on our strategy and requirements, we selected Lucid, gaining access to the industry’s highest performance and most innovative technologies for our future BEV products,” he said.
“We will not only leverage the significant investments Lucid has made to develop its world-class technologies, but will also further enhance and differentiate the drive experience through the work Roberto Fedeli and his teams are already developing, aligned with our ultra-luxury, high-performance strategy.
“Along with Mercedes-Benz, we now have two world-class suppliers to support the internal development and investments we are making to deliver our electrification strategy.
“With the recently announced long-term partnership with Geely, we will also gain the opportunity to access their range of technologies and components, as well as their deep expertise of the key strategic market of China.”
An all-new bespoke platform, developed by Aston Martin, will form the basis of the company’s entire future electrified model range — from hypercars to sports cars, GTs and SUVs — the first of which is targeted for launch in 2025.
Before then Aston Martin will deliver its first plug-in hybrid – the mid-engined Valhalla supercar – in 2024 and by 2026, all new Aston Martin model lines will feature an electrified powertrain option, with the long-term objective for its core range to be fully electrified by 2030.
Mercedes-Benz, meanwhile, will continue to provide Aston Martin access to a range of world-class technologies, including powertrain and electric/electronic architectures for current and future generation Aston Martin vehicles, including internal combustion engine, hybrid and electric vehicles.
Mercedes-AMG supplies the M177 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 for the current Vantage, DB12 and DBX.
Active aerodynamics and drag reduction is expected to play an increasingly significant part in enhancing the efficiency and extending the range of any given BEV model.
Likewise intelligent powertrain management will extract the most kilometres from each charge, performance for longer being the overriding objective in every area of Aston Martin’s BEV development.
Sleek, wind-cheating bodywork, no longer needing to feed air to a hungry internal combustion engine, will play its part.
Active cooling vents and airflow management around the wheel arches and underbody will work to reduce the impact of wide tyres required to transmit the immense power and immediate torque delivery of the battery-electric powertrain.
The Lucid Air.
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