Aston Martin Rapide E Driving Debut at Monaco

“The car has the kind of torque and punch that you’d expect from an EV”… Just bring money, lots of it.

Following a public reveal at Auto Shanghai last month, Aston Martin’s first all-electric model – Rapide E –took to the city’s streets for it first public demonstration ahead of the marketing festival dubbed Formula E Monaco ePrix.

Aston Martin works driver and 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Darren Turner took the wheel of Aston Martin’s first all-electric production car, which company claims will be limited to 155 production cars. Unknown is how many Kuwait investors who now effectively own Aston will buy the super car.

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Promoted as the most powerful Rapide model ever, the car’s twin rear-mounted electric motors deliver a combined expected output of 612PS and – gulp – 950Nm torque.

Rapide E is powered by an 800-volt electrical architecture battery – encased in a carbon fiber and Kevlar casing – with a 65kWh installed capacity using more than 5600 lithium-ion 18650 format cylindrical cells. This custom battery pack resides where the original 6.0-litre V12, gearbox and fuel tank were located, with the 800-volt system allowing for more efficient charging and improved thermal characteristics over existing electrical architectures, it’s claimed.

“The car has the kind of torque and punch that you’d expect from an EV, but they’ve really worked hard to retain the dynamic characteristics of what makes an Aston Martin special,” said Darren Turner said following the PR stunt.

Aston says that the final allocations for Aston Martin Rapide E are available “with pricing on application.” Production will commence in Q4 2019 at Aston Martin Lagonda’s new production facility in St Athan, Wales. Rapide E will likely cost more than $330,000 (~£250,000). Prices for the gasoline-powered Rapide S start at $220,000.