Aston Martin has announced technical details for its launch of the first electric Rapide E in 2019. The sports sedan is built together with the Formula E supplier Williams Advanced Engineering and comes first in a small series of 155 units on the market.
The Rapide E heralds an electrification offensive at Aston Martin: The British want to equip by 2025 their complete model range with electric motors. Partial electric plug-in hybrid cars and hydrogen Stromer omitted the premium manufacturer. The revived brand Lagonda will be based exclusively on pure electric cars from next decade .
When developing the Rapide E, Aston Martin focuses on cooling the battery and engine to provide consistent performance. To achieve “strict targets” in weight, lightweight metals and composites are used.
The Rapide E uses 800 volt electrical architecture – possibly the first electric car from an established manufacturer. The capacity of the battery, which is equipped with over 5600 individual 18650 lithium-ion cells, is 65 kWh. The battery finds place where the Aston Martin Rapide with combustion technology of the V12 engine, the gearbox and the fuel tank are housed.
For the range with a battery charge Aston Martin aims almost 320 kilometers to the new, more realistic WLTP standard. At compatible fast charging stations with at least 100 kW of power, the Rapide E should be able to be fully charged in about one hour. To increase range and efficiency, Aston Martin has aerodynamically optimized the body, the vehicle floor and the wheels. Special tires from Pirelli should provide low rolling resistance with high driving dynamics.
The two rear-mounted electric motors of the Rapide E provide a system output of over 449 kW (610 hp) and a maximum torque of 950 Nm. The sprint from zero to one hundred should succeed in less than four seconds. Aston Martin emphasizes that the performance should be reliably retrieved even with decreasing level of the battery – current electric cars have problems here. A maximum of 250 km / h are possible.
Aston Martin wants to use the feedback of the Rapide e-buyers to refine its electrical engineering. The price of the sporty Stromers is only communicated on request – there was a preview of the design in 2017 . The first electric car of the British luxury and sports car manufacturer is produced in a new factory in Welsh St. Athan. The location is to become the e-mobility center of Aston Martin and Lagonda.