British premium carmaker Aston Martin has revealed official specifications for its first-ever battery-electric model, the Rapid E. Since it’s an Aston, the focus will be on high-performance. Developed in partnership with Williams Advanced Engineering, a company that used to design and assemble batteries for Formula E cars, the Rapide E will be powered by an 800-volt battery system with 65kWh capacity, using over 5,600 lithium-ion 18650 format cylindrical cells. Aston Martin claims that the electric sports car will have a range of “over 200 miles” with a charging rate of 185 miles per hour using a typical 400V 50kW charger. The charging rate can be improved to 310 miles per hour using a 00kW or higher fast-charger.
The battery pack, which will be located where the original V12 motor resides along with the space for gearbox and fuel tank, will power two rear-mounted motors producing a combined target output of just over 610PS and 950Nm of torque. According to Aston Martin, the Rapide E will have a top speed of 155 mph, with a sub-4-second 0–60 mph time. The famed British carmaker stresses on the fact that these figures are “not restricted to a narrow window only when the batteries are fully-charged. Instead the target is for maximum performance on-demand throughout majority of the battery state of charge window, as would be expected from a conventional internal combustion-engined car.”
Only 155 examples of the Rapid E will be made, which is about a third of its original plan before Chinese electronics manufacturer LeEco departed from the project as an investor last year. The electric sports car will be produced at the company’s St. Athan production facility in South Wales, which has been dubbed the future “Home of Electrification” for Aston Martin.
[Via:Autoblog]
