Aston Martin Pushes Back the Launch of Its First EV (Again)
In 2023, Aston Martin said it would debut its first EV by this year, and then in 2024 Aston said its first EV wouldn’t arrive until 2026. Now, the marque claims its first EV will be here within the next five years, or by 2030, as it focuses more on hybrid tech and new cars like the plug-in hybrid Valhalla.
CEO Adrian Hallmark said this week that Aston’s first EV will be unveiled, “in this decade, but we’ll add hybrid derivatives as well, through to 2035,” according to Autocar. “For a company of our size, you have to either replace an existing nameplate and take the brave pill, or create the niche [and do] an incremental model as the first one. We haven’t fully decided. The original plan was to go with an incremental model, but we’re looking to other options. . .The key message will be to be flexible and have multiple options that fit with legislative and customer requirements over that period.”
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Hallmark also said that full electrification of the brand might not happen now until 2040, with the vast majority of its sales by 2030—or around 85 percent—expected to be internal combustion engine cars or hybrids like the plug-in hybrid Valhalla.
Aston’s first EV, meanwhile, is expected to be a competitor to Porsche’s Taycan, which comes as a sports sedan or shooting brake. The model helped change the conversation around Porsche and electrification when it first came out in 2019 and has only been better reviewed ever since. Alternatively, Aston’s first EV could be a battery-electric version of its DBX SUV, the marque’s best-selling car. Or, it could be something else entirely: Aston said last year that it has designed four different battery-electric vehicles, though it would prefer to keep the lid on just what those are for now.
It’s clear, at any rate, that Aston is keeping a close eye on customer demand for EVs, and won’t be trying to get ahead of it. Which makes sense: Throughout its history, the company has struggled through bankruptcy after bankruptcy. That alone could justify a slower, more deliberate walk into the electric revolution.
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