Few automotive engineers know more about electric powertrains than Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer.
In his previous life as Nissan’s head of development, Palmer led the team that created the Nissan Leaf. His arrival at Gaydon has put Aston Martin on course for what will be a part-electric future, and he is politely sceptical about James Dyson’s plan to introduce an electric car in 2020.
Aston Martin electric RapidE confirmed for production
RapidE to target very different customer to Model S, says boss
“I wish him the best of luck,” Palmer told Autocar, “but on the numbers that have been reported, I know you won’t do it for that money, and you won’t do it in that timescale. At least, I know that I couldn’t.”
Aston Martin Consulting has been involved in several EV projects for other manufacturers (the only publicly disclosed one being Faraday Future), and Palmer says an underestimation of the challenges involved has been a common factor.
“We’ve had discussions with about 10 of them,” he continued. “Every single one has underestimated the difficulty of engineering a car to a budget and to an aggressive timescale. Some of them will get there, but always over budget and late.”
Related stories:
New Aston Martin Vantage revealed
Aston Martin DB11 review
Join the debate
Add your comment
Why
yvesferrer wrote:
A Tesla goes far enough on one charge and can charge quickly enough from a super charger to allow you to drive as far in a day as most people would be comfortable driving.
A current Tesla Model S is livable with it's current range, while being able to go further will be welcome it is not essential. The new Model 3 may come in and achieve similar range at a lower price point it isn't for example going to be cheaper than a 2014 Model S P85 s today nor will it be more capable.
As new batteries come in they will allow cars to out perform the older ones at a lower price point. This will inevitably force the older cars value below this point. However the rate of advancement is unlikely to exceed an acceptable depreciation curve, Tesla's currently depreciate slower than an equivilent BMW.
Oh well !
xxxx wrote:
They said that about Google, Facebook etc. No one knows more about electric cars than Musk!
Except,
1-you can`t ride on a Google or a Facebook...
2-Musk clearly do knows nothing about bringing reliable and enduring cars to market, on time and making a profit on them.
3-Musk knows well stuttering things he doesn`t know and control and deciving (last minor one, replacing ultrasuede for high-end finishing quality textile headliners on all 1/2 million (minus 1700) Model 3 Teslas, intended to be made&delivered now until 2025.
Mate, you can keep saying and hoping that your call to AA will put you riding on a Google or a Facebook...
Cheers!
Hoover
having bought one of the new cordless dyson vacuums and getting 15 mins out of a charge I’m not sure his batteries are as good as he thinks they are.
ridnufc wrote:
Ah I'm sure they are directly comparable!
The key element of Dyson's plan is an investment in solid state batteries. If they can make these work the performance of their car will be far in advance of current Li batteries.
Thus I expect the Dyson car will really just be a showcase for battery tech which Dyson will sell or licence to other manufacturers. Plenty of people can engineer a door surround or a pannel gap, a 150kg 300 mile range battery on the other hand.