Aston Martin may have confirmed its first electric model, the RapidE for 2019 but the company had to rethink its plans after LeEco pulled out of the project.
LeEco was the original investment partner but decided to withdraw from the project as it currently faces some serious financial issues, leaving Aston Martin no choice but to lean more heavily on Williams Advanced Engineering, according to Reuters.
Aston Martin also had to scale down its production plans for its first-ever electric model to about a third of the original plan, with the RapidE to be built in 155 examples only.
“We’ve decided to make this car rare, which will obviously tend to push the price higher,” Andy Palmer, Aston Martin CEO said. “Aston Martin now plans to proceed independently, funding further development of RapidE by ourselves.”
Back in February last year, Aston Martin and LeEco came together to launch an all-electric version of the Rapide S by 2018. Since then though, the Chinese giant has cut down its electric car budget, including Faraday Future’s much advertised $1.3 billion factory in Nevada.
Aston Martin will start taking orders for the 2019 RapidE as soon as next month, with the price expected to be close to $255,000 in its home market and before any incentives.
Note: Aston Martin Rapide AMR pictured
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