Report: Aston Martin’s gearing up to compete with Tesla Motors with 800hp Rapide EV

AutomotiveNews recently heard from Aston Martin’s CEO, Andy Palmer, who shared of new plans to take down Tesla Motors with an all-new Rapide EV with at least 800hp.

Already, this can’t sound more obviously like a competitor to the latest and greatest Model S. Though this benchmark for the Rapide EV is way higher than the Tesla Model S P85D’s horsepower rating of just under 700hp. It’s even more than the Model S P90D with just 762hp on tap in total.

Aston Martin’s been fending for themselves after being sold off by Ford to a consortium of investors. That said, they have nobody to help leverage their Corporate Average Fuel Economy rating, unlike other companies like Porsche, who are owned by Volkswagen. As a result, Aston Martin needs to produce more fuel efficient models to offset the production of their V8 and V12 supercar monsters. They tried by producing the infamous Toyota iQ-based Cygnet, which was an absolute and total flop.

“If you want to keep making V-12 engines, then you’ve got to do something at the opposite end of the spectrum,” Palmer said in his statement to the press. He even made a direct comment against Tesla Motors’ new P90D and its anticipated “Ludicrous” mode, describing it as nothing more than a gimmick.

“We don’t do Ludicrous because Ludicrous speed is stupid,” he continued. “Ludicrous Mode” which allows the Model S sedan to sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 2.8 seconds. I think that the fact that you could drive a few laps of a decent race course or race it around the [Nurburgring] Nordschleife is much more interesting than doing 500 meters in Ludicrous mode.”

Despite being teamed up with Mercedes-Benz for resource sharing, the Rapide EV’s components aren’t expected to come from their parts’ bin. In addition to the Rapide EV, Aston plans on supplementing it with a plug-in hybrid version of its DBX Crossover, due sometime in 2019, next to an all gas and all-electric version.

– By: Chris Chin

Source: AutomotiveNews

Chris Chin

Chris Chin is the Editor-In-Chief of egmCarTech and is a regular contributor to Automobile Magazine.

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