Aston Martin Is Partnering With Lucid Motors to Power Its First EV
Both companies could use a hand in getting their products on the road, so it only makes sense for them to work together.
Aston Martin has tapped Lucid to supply key drivetrain and battery components for its upcoming "ultra-luxury high-performance electric vehicles." Lucid confirmed to The Drive that this includes Aston's first-ever EV, which is slated to launch in 2025.
The deal is a match made in motorsports, given both brands' deep ties into both the tech and driving sides of organized racing. And now, with Lucid's advanced motor and battery system, Aston will have access to similar tech found in the performance-oriented Lucid Air—a winning combination for the British car maker's niche customer base.
Lucid says that the agreement will supply Aston with its "ultra-high performance" dual-motor drivetrain and battery technology as part of the $450 million deal.
But Lucid isn't just throwing motors at Aston and calling it a day. The partnership includes access to Lucid's tech, the actual supply of hardware, and support for integration across Aston's road-going fleet. The new EV manufacturer will also provide Aston with "critical software," battery management, and the Wunderbox (which manages all power flowing into the vehicle) as part of the deal. So while the vehicle may look and feel like an Aston on the outside, it might drive and charge a bit like a Lucid Air. And based on our experiences, that could be a good thing.
Aston's move to use existing market tech makes sense. Despite the automaker specializing in performance luxury vehicles, the company is still relatively small with orders totaling just 6,400 units in 2022.
A manufacturer developing its own EV underpinnings would mean taking on a lot of overhead, which Aston likely doesn't want to do. The automaker is famous for its on-again, off-again financial troubles, meaning that running a lean ship is important to its continued success.
Lucid is also in a bit of a financial mess itself. The automaker's first-quarter earnings report for 2023 showed issues with production, deliveries, and additional costs. It also revealed a significant burning of cash, which partly contributed to a 70% stock dip over the past year. In fact, Lucid even confirmed that it was in talks with "multiple parties" on the idea of leasing or selling its powertrain tech following the release of its earnings report earlier this year. Aston appears to be at least one of those parties.
That all being said, a partnership with an automaker that already has the tech developed and vetted like Lucid just makes sense. Aston has even trialed this method before when it tapped Rimac to build parts of the hybrid system for the Valkyrie. Mercedes-Benz and Geely also have similar financial stakes in Aston as part of their own ongoing tech-sharing deals. It's likely that the Lucid partnership for road-going cars will be on a significantly larger scale than with Rimac, though we won't know exactly how much larger until the Brits release more of their EV strategy closer to 2025.
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