Aston Martin (VanderWolf Images/Bigstock.com)
While you would certainly never find a diesel engine in an Aston Martin, the firm looks far more kindly upon electric automotive technology.
So much so that the company is working on a 1,000bhp electric car, which could be here by 2020. While the success of electric sports car firm Tesla is undoubtedly a key driver behind an electric Aston, far more important is the fact that such a product would push down the company’s overall CO2 emissions.
Aston Martin's Cygnet city car project was largely set up to lower the firm's CO2 output, but customers ultimately failed to respond to the diminutive vehicle.
CEO Andy Palmer said to the Telegraph: “On my watch we are never going to put a diesel in an Aston. And I don’t think the Cygnet was the right thing to do. I think something like an electric car would be interesting, to sit squarely above a Tesla. Most people who buy Teslas are buying fully loaded ones, so it implies there’s room for that.”
Having launched the Leaf while he was a Nissan Executive, Palmer has valuable experience in this growing market.
Palmer said that the 1,000bhp electric car would look something like a four-wheel-drive 1,000bhp Rapide.
As Aston Martin looks to make itself financially stable in the coming years, it has embraced new ideas and technologies. Alongside electric units and cells, the firm is benefitting from Mercedes Benz technology, after the German firm became a small shareholder in Aston.
Aston also plans new versions of the Vantage and Vanquish, as well as a new four-door hybrid.
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