Aston Martin Wants To Make The Rapide E As Silent As Possible

Aston Maritn will use the all-electric Rapide E as a way to determine what its ICE-hungry customers want from a “green” vehicle.

Doing so won’t be easy. Throughout the decades, the British marque has become synonymous with some of the industry’s finest V8 and V12 engines. All of them shared a common element: an evocative engine note.

So, how will Aston convince its customers to step into an EV? By making it as silent as possible, Automotive News Europe reports.

During an interview, vehicle line director for the Rapide E, John Caress, said the company will look to eliminate any noises that have been previously masked by the sound of its V8s and V12s. One such measure will be the fitment of noise-cancelling Pirelli tires. However, Aston Martin won’t look to pump fake sounds into the cabin.

“Electric machines have a certain frequency, but it’s very hard to tune them. You get into augmented noises and that’s not what this car is about,” Caress commented.

Unlike its competitors, namely the Tesla Model S and upcoming Porsche Taycan, the Rapide E uses the underpinnings of a petrol-powered vehicle. As a result, it will feature a 65 kWh battery, which is relatively small considering the vehicle’s size, and the car’s range will only just exceed 200 miles (320 km).

However, the Rapide E, which will be built in just 155 examples, will have one key feature its rivals that are currently on sale don’t have: 800-volt technology. This will allow the car to be recharged very rapidly, with just 15 minutes needed to get the battery to 80 per cent of its capacity.