Aston Martin is partnering with Lucid for EV supercar batteries and tech
Aston Martin is partnering with Lucid for EV supercar batteries and tech
Aston Martin is teaming up with California’s Lucid Group – builders of the 1,200+hp Lucid Air Sapphire – to bolster its future electric supercar offerings.
Announced today, Lucid will provide Aston Martin with its current and future powertrain and battery tech that’ll be deployed in the British carmaker’s all new electric-only platform.
Current tech that in the Lucid Air ranges from a single-motor rear-wheel-drive setup with 430hp and a range of 650km, to a whopping 1,200+hp triple-motor all-wheel-drive battery and powertrain able to hit 95km/h in under 2.0s. Good grief.
Indeed Aston chairman Lawrence Stroll was suitably impressed by this speed. “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.”
That future includes Aston’s first plug-in hybrid in the form of the Valhalla (pictured above), arriving 2024, followed by the company’s first ever all-electric car that’ll deploy this new BEV platform and Lucid tech and arrive in 2025. Later in 2026, “all new Aston Martin model lines will feature an electrified powertrain option”.
Mercedes-AMG still has a part to play in all this, mind. It’ll still provide Aston with engines and electric architectures for the current range and next-gen cars spanning ICE, hybrid and full EV.
This electrification drive – called ‘Racing. Green.’ because of course it is – is a £2bn (est. S$3.4bn) programme of investment to transform Aston Martin into a fully-electric carmaker over the next five years so that by 2030, it’s run purely on electrons.
That journey to full EV is what Aston describes as an ‘elemental challenge’. We're promised this future line-up of new EVs will possess ‘exceptional’ battery efficiency, AWD with four-wheel torque vectoring, active aero and drag reduction, and “sleek, wind-cheating bodywork facilitated by no longer needing to feed air to a hungry internal combustion engine”.
Aston’s technical boss Roberto Fedelli said of the new tie-up with Lucid: “Combined with our internal development, this will allow us to create a single bespoke BEV platform suitable for all future Aston Martin products, all the way from hypercars to sportscars and SUVs.
“In addition, we will continue to expand our in-house powertrain capabilities, allowing us to provide the thrilling performance and intense driving experience we know that our customers love and expect from Aston Martin.”
STORY Vijay Pattni
