Aston Martin is going electric, and it’s enlisting the help of Californian EV start-up Lucid Group to make “the world’s most thrilling and highly desirable electric performance cars”.
The partnership, announced last night, will see Lucid Group – who sells the Lucid Air EV – supply batteries and electric motors for Aston Martin’s upcoming electric vehicles. In return, Lucid will take a 3.7% stake in the British sportscar maker.
Not much else has been said on the deal, but we do know that Aston Martin plans to have its entire line-up fully electrified by 2023. The Aston Martin Valhalla, its first plug-in hybrid model, will begin deliveries in 2024, while its first production fully-electric model is scheduled to launch in 2025.
Despite the new partnership with Lucid, Aston Martin says that Mercedes-Benz will also still continue to supply its “powertrain and electric/electronic architectures for current and future generation Aston Martin vehicles”.
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How the two companies will tie in together is unclear at the moment, but from the language in the press release, it appears that Aston Martin will leverage on the German carmaker’s electronic architecture to control the electric motors and batteries supplied by Lucid, enabling advanced powertrain technologies including “infinitely tuneable” per-wheel torque vectoring and minute energy recouperation adjustments.
The company’s consulting arm for its Formula 1 team, Aston Martin Performance Technologies, will also play a major part in the development of its future electrified products.
Mercedes-Benz will continue supplying the powertrain for Aston Martin’s internal combustion engine and hybrid vehicles before the transition into full electrification. According to the press release, Lucid’s motors and battery will only be used as part of its upcoming in-house Battery Electric Vehicle platform.
“Along with Mercedes-Benz, we now have two world-class suppliers to support the internal development and investments we are making to deliver our electrification strategy,” said Aston Martin Executive Chairman, Lawrence Stroll.
“With the recently announced long-term partnership with Geely, we will also gain the opportunity to access their range of technologies and components, as well as their deep expertise of the key strategic market of China,” he added.
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