A 1,000-horsepower, battery-powered Aston Martin Rapide is indeed coming by the end of 2017. That’s what Aston Martin president and CEO Andy Palmer told Bloomberg during a recent interview in London, echoing reports from the New York Auto Show back in April.
This new Rapide EV will be followed by the anticipated DBX crossover, also electric. Pricing and range details have yet to be announced, of course, but some insiders hint at 320 kilometres of zero-emission travel.
“We’re talking about an electric Aston Martin with between 800 and 1,000 horsepower – imagine having all that torque on demand,” Palmer said while at the same time rejecting the idea of a downsized motor. “We’re a V12 engine company. Project that into the future. Do I go the way of the rest of the industry and downsize the engine? Do I see Aston Martin with a three-cylinder engine? God forbid.
Does this mean Aston Martin will directly rival Tesla? Palmer’s impression is that Tesla will increasingly target the middle-market with more affordable cars, like the upcoming Model 3. He said he wants to avoid anything “vanilla in the middle.”