Aston Martin appears to be more enthusiastic about its electric future than its customers.
The British sports car maker announced it will delay the launch of its first EV by at least a year to 2026, according to Reuters. We say “at least,” because the company’s executive chairman, Lawrence Stroll, revealed that it’s unclear how much its customers even want a fully battery-powered model.
Last year, Aston Martin announced its intention to revamp its lineup with an eye towards electrification. Part of this would include the introduction of the brand’s first EV, which Stroll said would make its debut in 2025. The plan, as vaguely as it was presented at the time, seems to have hit a serious roadblock: a lack of customer demand. And because of that, the automaker is pushing back the launch by a year.
2025 Aston Martin Vantage
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC
“The consumer demand (for BEVs), certainly at an Aston Martin price point, is not what we thought it was going to be two years ago,” Stroll reportedly told journalists on Wednesday.
The marque’s customers may not be clamoring for an EV, but that doesn’t mean they’re against electrification. Stroll told the press that there is “much more driven demand” for plug-in hybrids. The executive explained that there is interest in electrified models as long as they still “still have the sports car smell and feel and noise.”
Luckily, the company’s customers won’t have to wait long to get their hands on an electrified Aston Martin. The brand’s first hybrid supercar, the Valhalla, is expected to go into production later this year. The street-legal vehicle will have a powertrain that includes a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 and a trio of electric motors that combine to produce just shy of 1,000 hp.
Aston Martin isn’t the only automaker having second thoughts about EVs right now—the whole industry is. Last week, Mercedes-Benz announced it would no longer go all-electric by 2030. The automaker is putting the brakes on plans to phase out purely gas- and diesel-powered cars and SUVs, which it now plans to continue building well into the next decade. The company will also put more of an emphasis on hybrid models going forward and is targeting half of its sales being electrified, but not all-electric, by the end of the decade.
