Aston Martin Rapide E Revealed at Shanghai Motor Show

British luxury carmaker Aston Martin has revealed the Rapide E electric performance sedan at the 20198 Shanghai Motor Show. The Aston Martin Rapide E is the British carmaker's first-ever electric vehicle and will be limited to just 155 units.

The Aston Martin Rapide E is powered by an 800V battery — encased in carbon fibre and Kevlar casing - which has a capacity of 65kWh. Aston claims that 800V setup of the battery pack allows for more efficient charging and greatly improves its thermal characteristics when compared to exisitng electrical architectures.

The Rapide E has a range of 322 kilometres (200 miles) on a single charge as per the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP). Using the regular 400V 50kW charging setup, the Rapide E can recover 185 miles (298km) of charge in an hour while the faster 800V setup allows the electric luxury sedan to recover 315 miles (507km) of range over the same charging period. Aston has also fitted the Rapid E with a high powered on-baord AC charger which can charge the sedan in just 3 hours.

The 65kWh battery pack powers two motors two rear mounted electric motors producing a combined target output of just over 602bhp and a colossal 950Nm of torque. This is sent to the rear wheels via a single speed bespoke gearbox.

This allows the Aston Martin Rapide E to sprint from 0–100km/h in under 4 seconds (the fastest sprint time ever from a Rapide model) and onwards to a top speed of 250km/h (155mph). Aston Martin claims that the Rapide E will sprint from 50–70mph (80–113km/h) in just 1.5 seconds.

Aston Martin has made a few design changes to make the Rapid go the electric route. The Rapide E from Aston Martin features new front splitter designed to improve aero efficency. There are also new wheels, a new E badge on the front fenders (the only badgng other than the Aston Martin wings on the entire car) and a new larger rear diffuser.

Inside, the Aston Martin Rapide E features a new 10-inch display instead of the regular dials. The display delivers all the key information to the driver while on the move, including the battery's state of charge, current motor power levels, regenerative performance and a real-time energy consumption meter.

The Aston Martin Rapide E is limited to just 155 units and it basically marks the en of the Rapide. However, the electric sedan also previews what we can expect from the British carmaker's Lagonda brand which will be a zero-emissions luxury marque.