The 2020 Tesla Roadster revealed late last year could face
competition from a brand that knows a thing or two about sports cars. Auto Express reported today that Aston Martin is
considering an all-electric sports car to rival the forthcoming Roadster.
The electric sports car could push Aston Martin into greater
realms of electrification and challenge Tesla's Roadster, which the Silicon
Valley-based carmaker claimed will be the quickest accelerating car in the
world. However, an ambitious project like an electric Aston Martin sports car
likely won't come until later next decade. The British brand will be busy
launching a new car every year through 2022, and in the process, Aston Martin
will heavily expand its electrification options.
CEO Andy Palmer confirmed Aston Martin will not introduce
plug-in hybrids, however, and future cars will employ 48-volt mild-hybrid
systems. The ultimate goal, he said, is to offer
pure electric cars without the complexity plug-in hybrids bring from
an engineering standpoint. In the near term, the Rapide
sedan is expected to be released as an electric car this year.
Should Aston Martin give an all-electric sports car the
green light, it will have to rival the 2020
Roadster's pretty incredible specs. Tesla claimed the next-generation
Roadster will dispatch the quarter mile in 8.8 seconds, and feature a top speed
of 250 mph. A 200 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack is slated to
provide 620 miles of range and feed two motors in the rear and one up
front for all-wheel drive. Palmer didn't seem worried about his brand's
capability, though.
Palmer named three key areas of development for electric
cars: weight, aerodynamic drag, and rolling resistance. "Sports car
manufacturers, and us in particular, are really good at mastering [these
areas]." He added Aston Martin's expertise gives it a clear advantage over
Tesla to build a lightweight electric sports car.
The hypothetical electric sports car could ride on Aston
Martin's aluminum-intensive platform that the DB11 and Vantage currently
use. The brand engineered the architecture to support electric powertrains for
the future, and it could very well be the basis for a proper Tesla Roadster
rival.
by: Sean Szymkowski
http://www.boscheuropean.com
No comments:
Post a Comment