Next 007 car to be electric Aston Martin Rapide?

ABU DHABI: James Bond always had a sexy set of wheels to help him chase down the bad guys. Till now they have all been powered by combustion engines, but things could ‘go green’ in the next film.

The next Bond film, which will be the 25th one, could see the ever charismatic hero behind the wheel of an Aston Martin Rapide E. This would be the first ever all-electric vehicle made by Aston Martin, a concept of which was revealed way back in 2015. Limited production of 155 units was later confirmed and is scheduled to debut sometime later this year.

So why this shift to electric power? Well the film’s director, Cary Joji Fukunaga, is apparently an environmentalist and putting 007 in an electric car was an eco-conscious decision. Even though we would miss out on the sexy sounding V12 in the action scenes, the world is moving towards electric powered cars, and it only seems fit that Bond keeps up with the times. After all, several companies have shown the world that electric cars don’t exactly compromise on performance. The Rapide E in the film will also be tricked out with all sorts of gadgets and will supposedly be the star in a huge action scene (as reported by a source to the British newspaper, The Sun).

The Rapide E puts out some good power figures (that are similar to the petrol-powered Rapide), producing 610 PS and 950 Nm of torque. All this power is made possible by an 800V, 65kWh lithium-ion battery pack that powers two electric motors. These motors are fitted to the rear axle, and on a single charge, the Aston has a range of around 320 km.

We will have to wait for the complete details of the Rapide E when it launches later in the year, and it will be April 2020 before we can see it in the next Bond film. Shooting for the film is expected to start next month, and we may get a glimpse of the Rapide E during filming.