Aston Martin is developing its own in-house modular EV platform that will use Lucid electric motors.
Aston Martin has revealed the first steps on its journey towards an electric future, with the British brand to offer a fully electrified option of every core model in its line-up by 2030. Before this however, Aston’s first EV will break cover in 2025 – and we’ve already heard early technical details of the platform its cars will be based on and the motors that will power it, thanks to a new deal signed with American EV firm Lucid.
Aston is working on its own, in-house developed modular platform that will underpin everything from low GT and sports cars to higher-riding SUV models. At a recent briefing ahead of Aston’s Capital Markets Day for investors, Aston chairman Lawrence Stroll outlined that: “We were always building our own platform, our own chassis, it’s what we do very well.
“What was most important to me was to finding what is the greatest technology to give us high-performance,” he added. “We know how to do ultra-luxury, but what’s the best technology on the marketplace to accomplish our goal of having an SUV, having an EV on the market at launch in 2025 – which most of you guys doubted and never believed. Well, here we go. We believe Lucid represented the best existing, mature technology, with the highest horsepower, the lowest battery height to enable our EV strategy.”
The deal will see Aston use Lucid electronic drive units that incorporate the motors, inverter and the transmission on its cars’ rear axles. These will feature bespoke calibration and software for Aston Martin products, with Lucid chief executive and chief technology officer Peter Rawlinson highlighting that these EDUs will be based on existing Lucid tech. Currently, the maximum output of the tri-motor Lucid Air Sapphire stands at “more than 1200bhp (895kW)”, meaning the all-wheel drive saloon can sprint from 0-100km/h in a around 2.0 seconds, offering a top speed of more than 320km/h.
However, Aston’s CTO Roberto Fedeli confirmed to Automotive Daily Network partner Auto Express that the British brand’s future models will use four motors, with a twin-motor drive unit of Aston’s own design for the front axle. This will most likely be influenced by the mid-engined Valhalla plug-in hybrid coming in 2024, which will use a similar front axle set-up.
“We are learning how to develop the front twin-motor axle for the next generation”, Fedeli said. He added that “A characteristic we like very much about Lucid’s components is the size. The size of the component is very well suited to our platform and the constraints that we have in order to create just one platform to support not just SUVs, but also sports cars.
“We want to be able to create [EV] cars with a roof height of a little bit less than the Vantage.” Fedeli went on to point out that this will mean we see battery modules packaged differently than the current convention of sandwiching them in the floor, with multiple modules positioned around the car potentially possible.
Rawlinson commented further on the power density of Lucid’s drive units – which fit inside a carry-on suitcase – saying that “Hyundai is at 1.1bhp (0.82kW) per kg, a Tesla Model S Plaid is about 3.9bhp (2.9kW) per kg, we’re at 9bhp (6.7kW) per kg, so over twice as much. Our racing power unit looking towards the future is near to 17 (12.7kW).”
Asked if the comparison between Aston’s first EV and the DBX707 was significant, if the 2025 car would take the form of an SUV, Fedeli nodded. As previewed by our exclusive image, it seems logical given the appetite in the market and the profit-making potential of these vehicles, and we’ll soon see test mules on the road, according to Aston’s top technology exec.
“Our target is to see the first mule running by the beginning of next year, the first mule to represent the platform – the most complicated model we want to develop on the platform has to be on the road by the beginning of next year. By the end of summer we are going to have the full powertrain on the test bench. We did the concept phase of the platform last year, this year we are completing this phase, and then we are going to start testing – first on the bench, then on the road.”