Aston Martin will team up with Chinese tech company ‘LeEco’ to build an electric car that will take on the likes of the Tesla model S. Sources mentioned that the British sports car maker is planning to create an electrified version of the four door Aston Martin Rapide.
The Aston Martin RapidE was unveiled in its concept stages last October and this model is slated to hit showrooms in the latter half of 2017. “On my watch we are never going to put a diesel engine in an Aston,” CEO Andy Palmer said, “and I don’t think the Cygnet was the right thing to do. I think a car that sits squarely above the Tesla would be much more interesting. Most people who buy Teslas are buying fully loaded ones, which implies there’s room for that.” As a former Nissan executive, Palmer added, “I am a great advocate of electric vehicles, not for fuel economy, but for performance.”
While the standard 6.0-litre V12 Rapide makes 552bhp, Aston Martin’s electrification will leave the RapidE with a hair-raising 1,000bhp and will definitely kick up a segment electrical thunderstorm.
Source: telegraph
