While Aston Martin still hasn’t committed to when it will go all electric, the company’s electrifications plans are becoming a little clearer.
Lawrence Stroll, major stakeholder and chairman of Aston Martin, has told the Financial Times the luxury sports car maker will “be fully electrified” by 2026.
While other luxury marques have committed to going fully electric within the decade — for example Bentley will only sell EVs by 2030 — Stroll said Aston Martin was going on a “journey” and will move “at the pace” of its customers.
He claimed Aston Martin will be “gradually going to get to full EV”, but in the meantime will offer both hybrid and electric powertrains.
Valkyrie
The company plans to launch its first plug-in hybrid by 2024, and its first EV around the middle of the decade.
From 2026 all cars with an internal combustion engine will have some form of electric assistance.
It’s possible the plug-in hybrid and EV technology that Aston Martin will employ in its future cars will be borrowed from AMG.
The go-fast division of Mercedes-Benz has a significant stake in the firm, is Aston Martin’s closest technical partner, and currently supplies the British automaker with its 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engines.
As for right now, though, Stroll told the newspaper, “I can’t tell you that 100 per cent of Aston Martin customers want an electric vehicle.”
He believes at present “people still want the smell, the noise” of internal combustion engines.
DBX Straight Six
While the majority of the brand’s sales are of non-electrified cars with V8 and V12 engines, Aston Martin has already dipped its toes into the hybrid world.
Late last year it launched the DBX Straight Six, a China-only version of the crossover with a 3.0-litre twin-turbo straight-six engine augmented by a 48V mild-hybrid system.
At the top of the range there’s the Valkyrie hypercar, which pairs a naturally-aspirated 6.5-litre Cosworth V12 with electric motors from Rimac to produce a total of 865kW and 900Nm.
Coming in 2023 is the Valhalla with its 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 partnered to a pair of electric motors, and capable of delivering a total of 700kW and 1000Nm.
