We've been waiting for some time to see the production-ready version of Aston Martin's first all-electric sports car, developed in conjunction with Williams Advanced Engineering – and now the company has unveiled the street-ready Rapide E at Auto Shanghai.
The basic specs of the Rapide E have been known since September last year: it's a rear-wheel-drive sports car making 450 kW (603 hp) and 950 Nm (701 lb-ft) of torque through two motors. A 65-kWh battery pack is located where the 6-liter V12 sits in the combustion Rapide, sheathed in carbon/kevlar. It runs at 800 volts, enabling fast, efficient charging at rates over 100 kW. The onboard AC charger can top the car up in under three hours.
Range will be over 200 miles (322 km) on the tough WLTP standard, and the car offers a limited top speed of 155 mph (250 km/h) and 0-60 mph (0-98 km/h) times under four seconds.
And now we know what it looks like in production form. That is, very nice, and quite similar to the sketches Aston put out in 2017 of what it might look like. The official photos are out, and the car is on display in Shanghai.
This is our first look at the Rapide E interior, which looks extremely leathery, and we expect it'll smell extremely leathery as well.
The traditional dash is replaced by a 10-inch color display, and features the electric take on a tacho – a power output reading in kilowatts, so you can see exactly how much torture you're sending to the rear tires at any time. There will be three driving modes: GT, Sport and Sport+, which control both power delivery and handling characteristics.
Only 155 will be built for sale. Orders are open now, with "prices available on application." Enjoy more photos in the gallery.
Source: Aston Martin
