Aston Martin's 4 new EVs will get Lucid-backed performance boost

GAYDON, England -- Aston Martin will launch four new full-electric cars in four years starting in 2025 using technology from U.S. EV maker Lucid Motor to greatly enhance their performance.

Each of the four models will be additional to the current range, Aston Martin Chairman Lawrence Stroll said a media briefing at the company’s headquarters here after the company announced that it will source electric drive units and battery modules from Lucid.

Aston Martin is developing an all-new platform that will form the basis of its entire future electrified model range from hypercars to sports cars, GTs and SUVs as part of its objective for its core range to be fully electrified by 2030.

The drive units will include electric motors, invertors and transmissions, as well as the battery modules. They will be built in Lucid’s factory in Arizona.

When fitted to the Aston Martin platform, the Lucid drive unit will power the rear wheels, with separate electric motors powering the front axle.

Aston Martin said it would use up to four electric motors, surpassing the three motors used in high-performance Sapphire versions of the Lucid Air large sedan, which make “over 1200 hp,” according to Lucid.

The low height of the Lucid-supplied battery modules means that a future Aston Martin GT electric sports car would sit lower than the Vantage two-seater coupe, Aston Martin Chief Technology Officer Roberto Fedeli said.

The modules would come supplied with cylindrical battery cells, which Lucid currently sources from either LG Chem, Samsung SDI or Panasonic.

Stroll said Aston Martin has been working with Lucid for a year. “Lucid represented far and away the best existing mature technology with the highest level of horsepower and smallest battery height,” he said.

Aston Martin and Lucid were encouraged to discuss working together by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, a shareholder in both companies, Stroll said, adding that Aston Martin was already in conversation with Lucid at that point.

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, or PIF, owned about 49 percent of Lucid as of March 31, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The fund owns about 18 percent of Aston Martin, according to a filing from last month.

Lucid will take a 3.7 percent stake in Aston Martin.

Aston Martin’s current technology partner Mercedes-Benz will continue to supply the company with electronic/electric architectures and V-8 engines but Aston Martin will not take the option of expanding its supply deal with Mercedes.

Mercedes will not increase its current 9 percent stake in Aston Martin.

China’s Geely, Aston Martin’s third largest shareholder after Stroll and PIF, will also play a key role in speeding up the development of the company’s first new-generation full-electric car.

Geely will give the company access to parts from its own global supply chain, meaning Aston Martin could tap into components going into Geely premium brands such as Volvo or Lotus.

“It’s a very good opportunity,” Fedeli said. “We are speaking about seats, HVAC … we speak about everything we can get from a wide shelf of components.”

Accessing Geely parts will reduce both development time and capital expenditure, Fedeli said.

Geely parts would be used for the new electric platform rather than going into existing or future combustion engine models. “If you want to find room for a component then you have to start from the platform, then build everything together,” Aston Martin CEO Amadeo Felisa said.

Fewer suppliers

Aston Martin has struggled to manage its supply base since the pandemic with smaller companies struggling to adapt to the company’s transformation, Felisa said.

Aston will cut its 300-strong supplier base by almost a third as it moves to build strong relationship with suppliers and encourage more to deliver ‘sub-systems’ incorporating multiple parts rather than single pieces.

Aston Martin is in the process of replacing its GT front-engined sports cars. The company has unveiled the DB12 coupe and is preparing the replacement for the smaller Vantage two-seater and the larger V12-powered DBS within the next 12 months.

The automaker's Valhalla plug-in hybrid hypercar is expected in 2024.

Aston Martin said that it is still spending around three quarters of development budget on combustion engine cars but expects that to switch to 75 percent investment into battery-electric cars by 2027.