European-based car-maker dominoes continue to topple in their support of internal combustion, with Aston Martin joining others in pledging to electrify its future — the brand’s CEO Tobias Moers confirming that the brand will go 90 per cent ‘electrified’ by the end of the decade.
“Electric drive is part of our journey and our product plan for the future. We should achieve something by the middle of the decade – that’s the ballpark. That’s the period of time and I think it’s crucial,” Moers said in an investor meeting.
“We have re-established engineering in the company on a different level and we have a lot of possibilities in mind. We have to finally do that, we have to finally line it up, but we have a clear ambition for 2030.”
The move means that Aston Martin still expects to produce some pure internal combustion cars by 2030, as well as a range of hybrids that will somewhat preserve the sounds and smells of old-school engineering that enthusiasts love.
The firm’s new DBX SUV is tipped to be at the centre of the announcement. Having been launched last year in ICE 405kW Mercedes-AMG-sourced V8 form, a plug-in hybrid version is set to come in a few years time. A fully electric replacement is set to follow.
In the meeting, Moers added that it’s possible that the DB11, Vantage, and Superleggera could all become electrified in the coming years. The question will be whether there’s enough real estate in the architecture of each model to shoe-horn an electric motor and battery system.
“These have been on the market for a few years and need a refresh,” Moers added. “Do we have a chance to electrify them? This is what we’re investigating at the moment. I’m not sure about that because they have a transaxle layout, it’s a specific sports car layout and it’s not that easy.”
The pseudo-announcement comes in the wake of Bentley and Jaguar’s confirmation that they will both go fully electric by 2030 and 2025 respectively. “We would love to keep working on six engines plus battery-electric vehicles plus hybrids,” Bentley CEO Adrian Hallmark told Road & Track last year. “But we haven’t got the capacity to do it. You’ve got to pick a point in time where battery power density, especially for bigger cars, is the liberator for us.”
“Jaguar Land Rover is unique in the global automotive industry,” JLR CEO Thierry Bolloré said earlier this month. “Designers of peerless models, an unrivaled understanding of the future luxury needs of its customers, emotionally rich brand equity. […] Together, we can design an even more sustainable and positive impact on the world around us.”
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