Aston Martin's EV Plan: Build One When Forced To

Aston Martin will build a pure electric vehicle only when the law leaves it no choice. That's the message from CEO Adrian Hallmark, who told Autocar the company sees no demand-side reason to electrify and plenty of reasons to keep pistons pumping.

Aston's EV timeline has become a case study in slippage. The brand once promised to reveal an EV by the close of 2025. That slid to 2027. Now Hallmark is talking about a window near the 2035 legislative deadline.

"We only need BEVs to be compliant for legislative reasons just before 2035," Hallmark said. "I'm not going to give an absolute date, because it's imprecise. It could be 2035, it might be 2033, but it's in that three-year window. It's not 2031."

Do the math and the first Aston EV could arrive a full decade after the original promise. Hallmark blamed customers and lawmakers for "changing way faster than any car company can cope with." The former Bentley boss plans to keep V-8 and V-12 cars in showrooms as long as the rules allow. "We have a roadmap to keep the bigger and smaller engines alive and compliant all the way through to the end of that period," he said.

Hybridization is on the table to stretch those ICE powertrains, but Hallmark drew a line at plug-ins: "probably not plug-in, because we don't need it; we don't need the 200 kg (440 pound) penalties." When Aston does electrify, it won't go it alone. The company has a deal with Lucid, which took a 3.7 percent stake in Aston Martin, and longtime partner Mercedes-Benz could provide its electric drivetrains.

The delay, by Hallmark's account, has an upside. "Because we delayed, by the time we activate that deal, the technology that we will get is totally different to what we signed up the original contract for," he said, adding that the collaboration covering powertrains and electronic systems alongside Mercedes-Benz "will be deepened."

Protecting the sounds and smells of an Aston is one thing. Dragging the loss-making brand back into profit is the harder job still waiting.

[Images: Aston Martin]

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