Aston Martin’s Rapide E Is A 604bhp, Fast-Recharging DB11-Hunter

Aston Martin is stepping into the battery electric vehicle game with a Rapide EV, which is barely slower to 62mph than the DB11, but even faster for real-world overtakes
Aston Martin’s Rapide E Is A 604bhp, Fast-Recharging DB11-Hunter

British luxury and sports car maker Aston Martin has fully joined the race towards electrification with an all-electric Rapide, its first fully battery-fed model.

The twin-motor, 604bhp Rapide E is a four-door cruiser set for a build run of just 155 cars as the company dips its toes into the murky waters of customer demand and production viability. Its technical details were first mooted last year.

Aston Martin’s Rapide E Is A 604bhp, Fast-Recharging DB11-Hunter

Although based on the existing platform it has a number of differences aimed at increasing efficiency, including a new under-floor design running into a diffuser made more effective by the absence of exhaust pipes.

Lightweight, forged alloy wheels are designed to cut drag without hampering brake cooling. Along with low-rolling-resistance Pirelli tyres the Rapide E’s tweaks can muster an eight per cent aerodynamic improvement over the petrol car.

Aston Martin’s Rapide E Is A 604bhp, Fast-Recharging DB11-Hunter

It’s not all about saving energy, though. According to Aston Martin, the car will hit 62mph in 4.2 seconds and leap from 50 to 70mph in just 1.5 seconds, making it at least as effective at real-world overtaking as the V12-powered DB11. Thank the 700lb ft of torque for that. Top speed is limited to 155mph through a single-speed gearbox.

Two motors mounted on the rear axle provide the muscle, spinning to 11,500rpm and driving the rear wheels only. Double wishbone suspension at all corners has anti-squat and anti-dive technology, bolstered by adaptive dampers and a three-stage switch in the cabin. Vast 400mm front discs gripped by six-piston calipers do the business when it comes to hard stops, but the motors themselves may do most of the braking in everyday driving.

Aston Martin’s Rapide E Is A 604bhp, Fast-Recharging DB11-Hunter

Traction is aided by a limited-slip differential but the Rapide E isn’t designed to be a hyper-agile sports machine. Its electro-hydraulic steering rack takes three full turns from lock to lock, which is a sweet spot for a grand tourer.

A range of only 200 miles, tested under the tougher WLTP cycle, is less impressive for a GT car, but it’s more than enough to make sure your expensive luggage set in the modest boot will make it to another fast-charger.

Aston Martin’s Rapide E Is A 604bhp, Fast-Recharging DB11-Hunter

As for charging, a cutting-edge 800v electrical system can theoretically allow recharge speeds of up to 310 miles of range per hour – although it’s not as simple as taking that number for granted because charging speeds have to slow significantly as the current battery tech passes 80 per cent full, to prevent cell damage. The batteries themselves are mounted where the V12, gearbox and fuel tank used to be.

Aston mentions ‘strict weight targets’ from the outset of the project but the result is a porky 2140kg car. Battery technology simply isn’t at a lightweight stage, yet, and with 65kWh on board, the Rapide E has plenty of batteries. Interestingly, Aston says there is no perceptible degradation in performance throughout the battery’s charge cycle, making the performance stats as valid at a quarter charge as when full.

Aston Martin’s Rapide E Is A 604bhp, Fast-Recharging DB11-Hunter

Three driving modes will span GT, Sport and Sport+. Each will affect both the powertrain and the chassis setup. Also available for the drive to play with is a 10-inch digital instrument cluster that can display all the EV-specific data you could wish for on top of a simulation of traditional dials.

There’s no word on price, but it’s likely to be a case of ‘if you have to ask, you won’t want to pay it.’

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Comments

675LT_ftw

And this is why electric cars can be awesome ☺️👍👍

04/16/2019 - 11:28 |
5 | 2
Chewbacca_buddy (McLaren squad)(VW GTI Clubsport)(McLaren 60

She’s finally arrived. Boy have I been waiting for this

04/16/2019 - 11:30 |
2 | 2
TheBigLoser

RapidE

04/16/2019 - 12:27 |
9 | 0

They should have named the car that

04/16/2019 - 13:23 |
0 | 0
Ian MacDonald

damn this car is gonna be…

quick.

04/16/2019 - 12:40 |
0 | 0
Le mécano

They may be as quick as supercars, but i wonder how they’ll make car scenes in movies without sound… That’s very fast tho

04/16/2019 - 13:21 |
0 | 0

.. have you heard an electric car at full acceleration up close? It’s not exactly loud but they do make a pretty awesome Starwars-like sound. So I imagine Hollywood will sorta… augment that

04/16/2019 - 14:21 |
1 | 0
Niko Ala-Rämi 🇫🇮
04/16/2019 - 14:21 |
21 | 0
The Stigs Homeless Cousin

this actually looks good

04/16/2019 - 14:48 |
0 | 0
Itsuki

It’s not speedy, it’s rapideE

04/16/2019 - 15:14 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

Only if you knew had polluting is to make a battery, lithium is damn explosive, and the batteries are built in countries that use coal for energy, CO2 may be reduced but SO2, NO2 & other microparticles will get a lot higher & they are way more dangerous, asked physisians that’s what they said & they were furious!! Besides the economical system will be destroyed, huge unemployment rate, and ofcourse all the poor taxpayers are gonna pay for Rich assholes to drive & charge them!! That’s socialism at its worst!! And do you know how expensive electricity is?? Especially in America & Greece are damn high, electricity is not given by god, besides ethanol, biodiesel & other biofuels are gettin’ their way in Europe like they did in America, it’s damn cheap & damn ecological which means EV’s won’t be so successful, and after telling facts by scientists I don’t give a shit if you agree or not!! You’ll tell me to take me for a ride for the torque that doesn’t fix anything!!

04/16/2019 - 18:06 |
2 | 5