The British supercar maker announced the deal with Chinese technology company LeEco that will lead to the development of electric models.
The collaboration was reported back in December, but the two companies made it official just now.
The first offspring of this collaboration will be the vbRapidE, the electric version of the brand’s sports saloon.
The RapidE is scheduled to hit the market in 2018, with the two companies working on the advanced technology that will go into the battery and powertrain systems of the final production model.
This partnership might also lead to the development of more, next-generation connected electric vehicles on behalf of Aston Martin, LeEco and -get this- Faraday Future.
“We have been targeting the highest standard in the auto industry in terms of design, R&D and manufacturing of our electric cars”. said Mr. Ding Lei, co-founder and global vice chairman of LeEco’s SEE Plan. “We hope that, by strengthening collaborations with Aston Martin, our future models will provide premium qualities and delicate arts and crafts as good as those of Aston Martin.”
On his part, Aston Martin CEO, Andy Palmer, commented: “Aston Martin are dedicated to developing a range of cars with low emission technologies. We have been encouraged by the project speed and technical depth shown by Letv in the development of the RapidE concept towards full production. Bringing the RapidE to market by 2018 is an important milestone for both companies.”
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