British marque Aston Martin has delayed the launch of its first electric vehicle (EV), but plans to expand its hybrid lineup to meet increasingly stringent emissions targets.
Speaking to Autocar, Aston Martin CEO Adrian Hallmark said the brand’s debut EV would no longer launch in 2027, instead saying it’ll debut before 2030 – without setting a specific date for its arrival.
This is the second delay for the EV in a year, having initially been scheduled for a 2025 launch which last March was pushed back to 2026.
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At the time, Aston Martin cited a drop in EV demand, instead announcing it would divert some of its energy in the meantime to developing plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) which have experienced a surge in global sales.
It’s still unknown whether the first Aston Martin EV will be a sports car or a more practical model like an SUV, however we do know it’ll use a front electric motor developed by the brand and a rear motor produced by US EV manufacturer Lucid.
According to Mr Hallmark, Aston Martin is yet to give it a name.
“For a company of our size, you have to either replace an existing nameplate and take the brave pill, or create the niche [and do] an incremental [hybrid] model as the first one,” Mr Hallmark said.
“We haven’t fully decided. The original plan was to go with an incremental model, but we’re looking to other options.”
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Valhalla
While Aston Martin only launched its first hybrid last year – the Valhalla PHEV supercar – it aims to soon launch more fuel-saving models, which will help combustion engines continue to account for a majority of its sales by 2030.
Like the Valhalla, future Aston Martin PHEVs are expected to use powertrains developed by Mercedes-AMG, which currently has electrified versions of four- and eight-cylinder models.
According to Mr Hallmark, the electrification pathway is “not as clear-cut as three or five years ago, but the general direction is absolutely towards electrification”.
“Our commitment is towards carbon-neutral or net zero. But to get there we will double down and add incremental products in the hybrid space before we get to full electric,” he added.
The executive also said Aston Martin is planning to become “full electric some time between 2035 and 2040”, likely after the impending 2035 ban on new petrol and diesel cars in Europe.
